WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tom Ridge, 43rd governor of Pennsylvania and the first secretary of the U.S. department of Homeland Security, released the following statement today on the passing of former Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter:

"All of us who had the opportunity to serve and work with Arlen will remember him as a relentless fighter for his beliefs. He was his own man – an independent thinker who let it be known that the polarization of party politics was not his way. In his work and is his own health, he was determined to win on his own terms, and he did – leaving an abundant legacy of service that bettered the lives of many people throughout his beloved country and his Commonwealth. Michele and I send our thoughts and prayers to his wife, Joan, and the entire Specter family."

SOURCE Office of The Honorable Tom Ridge