Specter Hospitalized With Serious Illness—Report

Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania's longest-serving senator who lost his bid for reelection in 2010 after three decades in Washington, has been hospitalized with a "serious illness," according to a Philadelphia media outlet.

"Friends declined to comment Monday afternoon on the nature of the illness," Philly.com reported on Monday.

Specter was a longtime Republican who switched allegiances to the Democratic Party in 2010 after it became evident he might lose the GOP primary to Pat Toomey. Toomey won the general election in 2010 and is the Keystone State's junior senator.