WASHINGTON -- After losing five terms' worth of seniority for bolting from the Republican Party, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., is slowly gaining it back.

Thursday morning, Mr. Specter leapfrogged six senators in the Judiciary Committee seating order and had the fourth best Democratic chair at a meeting to mark up legislation. Mr. Specter said the move is only part of a process to restore his standing as if he were elected as a Democrat in 1980.

Indeed, Mr. Specter still ranks behind three Judiciary Committee senators who were elected after him -- Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Herb Kohl, D-Wis.

The seniority issue has been a delicate one for Mr. Specter. He said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised him he'd keep his status if he switched parties. But after he did so in April, his new colleagues voted him the caucus' most junior member.

Last fall, Reid spokeswoman Regan LaChapelle said the seniority issue would not be taken up until 2011. But Mr. Specter wanted it sooner. He said he worked through the Democratic leadership for the Judiciary Committee upgrade. Ms. LaChapelle declined comment Thursday.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. -- one of the half-dozen senators who allowed Mr. Specter to pass them -- had already ceded Mr. Specter a plum subcommittee chairmanship. And when asked about the personal importance of the move Thursday, Mr. Specter responded that chairing the subcommittee on crime and drugs -- a particular area of interest for the former Philadelphia district attorney -- "was the best thing."

He added, "But it's all important."

The Judiciary Committee, which Mr. Specter joined when he first arrived in the Senate in 1981, has been a central part of his 29 years in office. Mr. Specter chaired the committee from 2005-07 and some of his career highlights have come when he was vetting nominees to the Supreme Court.

Next, Mr. Specter said he has his eyes on moving up in seniority on the powerful Appropriations Committee. He also said he would like to restore his place on the Veterans Affairs committee, of which he was chairman for a time in his Republican days.

"There's more to come," he said.

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.