*Career: Elected to Connecticut State Senate, 1970-1980; served as majority leader, 1974-1980. Served as Connecticut's 21st attorney general, 1982-1988. Elected to U.S. Senate in 1988, re-elected 1994.

*Legislation: Supports abortion rights, school vouchers and gun control.

*Family: Lives in New Haven, Conn., with his wife of 17 years, Hadassah; they have one 12-year-old daughter together, Hana. He has a son and daughter from his previous marriage to Elizabet Haas, a psychiatric social worker, who he divorced in 1982; Hadassah has a son from a former marriage. The couple has two granddaughters.

*Religious life: Member of two Orthodox synagogues in Washington and Connecticut. To promote "the respect and protection of human life and well being," he has said he will vote on legislation and participate in important meetings on Shabbos, but won't campaign.

*Books: "The Power Broker" (1966), a biography of late Democratic Party Chairman John M. Bailey; "The Scorpion and the Tarantula" (1970), a study of early efforts to control nuclear proliferation; "The Legacy" (1981), a history of Connecticut politics; "Child Support in America" (1986); "In Praise of Public Life" (2000).