Michael Castle

Michael N. Castle
United States Representative from Delaware (at-large)
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Thomas R. Carper
Governor of Delaware
In office January 15, 1985 – December 31, 1992
Preceded by	Pierre S. du Pont, IV
Succeeded by	Dale E. Wolf
Lieutenant Governor of Delaware
In office January 20, 1981 – January 15, 1985
Preceded by	James D. McGinnis
Succeeded by	Shien Biau Woo
Born	July 2, 1939 (1939-07-02) (age 70) Wilmington, Delaware
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jane DiSabatino
Residence	Wilmington, Delaware
Alma mater	Hamilton College, Georgetown University Law Center
Profession	lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Michael Newbold "Mike" Castle (born July 2, 1939) is an American lawyer and Congressman from Wilmington in New Castle County, Delaware. He is a member of the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Lieutenant Governor of Delaware, and two terms as Governor of Delaware. He is serving his ninth term as congressman. On October 6, 2009 he announced his candidacy for the Senate seat once held by current Vice President Joseph Biden. Castle is widely seen as the front-runner for the Republican nomination and leads in aggregate polling against potential Democratic opponents.^[1]

Early life and family

Castle is a graduate of Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He married Jane DiSabatino in 1992 and they have no children. They are members of the Roman Catholic Church. He is a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin.^[2]

Professional and political career

Castle was Deputy Attorney General in Delaware in 1965 and 1966 and was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 1966. He served one term there during the 1967/68 session and then was elected to the Delaware State Senate, serving two terms from the 1969/70 session through the 1975/76 session. Following this he returned to the full time practice of law.

In 1980 Castle was recruited to run for Lieutenant Governor of Delaware by the incumbent Governor, Pierre S. du Pont, IV. With that endorsement, he was elected, defeating State Senator Thomas B. Sharp. He served one term from January 20, 1981 to January 15, 1985.

Governor of Delaware

Lt. Governor Castle (left) with Governor Dick Thornburgh of Pennsylvania (center) and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, July 1982.

As the hand-picked choice of the popular Governor du Pont, he easily won election as Governor of Delaware, defeating former Delaware Supreme Court Justice William T. Quillen. In the campaign, Castle was criticized for being a shadow of his mentor and only promising an extension of du Pont’s program. Despite this criticism, Delaware voters elected him to another term in 1988 when he defeated Democrat Jacob Kreshtool. Castle served two terms when he resigned to begin his first term as U.S. Representative.

Castle’s terms marked the full establishment of what Delaware political commentator Celia Cohen has called “the Age of Incumbency.” Following du Pont’s very successful and popular terms as Governor, Delaware politics seemed to have reached a consensus, with leaders of both parties being regularly re-elected, while working closely and quietly together on a conservative fiscal low tax, pro business, and clean government agenda. Prior to du Pont only four men had served eight years as Governor and one of those had two non-consecutive terms. From 1977 until the present there have been four governors, two from each party, each emulating Castle in essentially carrying out the program initiated by Pierre S. du Pont, IV.

United States Representative

With the new consensus style of decision making in Delaware, important decisions are made by a few leaders in both parties. So it was in 1992, when Castle was forced to retire as Governor due to constitutional term limits. The result was what became known as "the Swap." Castle ran for the seat of U.S. Representative Thomas R. Carper and Carper ran for Governor. Delaware’s political leadership had quietly worked out the arrangement and retained the services of two very popular office holders.

Castle was first elected to the U.S. Representatives in 1992, defeating former Lieutenant Governor Shien Biau Woo. Since then, he has won election by wide margins eight times, defeating Democrats Carol Ann DeSantis in 1994, Dennis E. Williams in 1996 and 1998, Michael C. Miller in 2000 and 2002, Paul Donnelly in 2004, Dennis Spivack in 2006, and Karen Hartley-Nagle in 2008.

Castle is president of the Republican Main Street Partnership and is the co-chair of several Congressional caucuses, including the Diabetes Caucus, the Community College Caucus, the Biomedical Research Caucus and the Passenger Rail Caucus. He is also considered one of the most moderate Republicans in the U.S. House. In the wake of Tom DeLay's indictment in September 2005, liberal columnist E.J. Dionne named Castle as one of four lawmakers capable of leading an anticorruption reform of the Republican Party. Castle is a member of various moderate/liberal Republican Organizations, such as Republicans For Environmental Protection, The Republican Majority For Choice, Republicans For Choice and Christine Todd Whitman's Its My Party Too.

Castle’s cosponsored the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The bill proposed expanding the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research, expecting that this funding would generate more research and ultimately greater progress in addressing many kinds of diseases. Presently only those lines derived before August 9, 2001 are eligible for federal funded research. This legislation removes that date restriction, along with proposing stronger ethical requirements. After successfully passing both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, it received U.S. President George W. Bush’s first presidential veto in July 2006. Despite the production of induced pluripotent stem cell research, Castle is still pushing for the funding of embryonic stem cell research.

Castle suffered two minor strokes during the 2006 campaign, but fully recovered. Considering the general Democratic sweep of other offices, he won the election comfortably, but with a greatly reduced margin over previous years. Oddly enough, despite the increased Democratic sweep of the 2008 election, Castle, unlike many Republicans, managed to increase his margin of victory, winning over Democrat challenger Karen Hartley-Nagle by 23 points.

On November 9th, 2009, Congressman Castle's District was profiled by Stephen Colbert in his segment "Better Know a District."

Committee assignments

• Committee on Education and Labor
  • Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness
• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology

Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1. Members of the Delaware General Assembly take office the second Tuesday of January. State Senators have a four year term and State Representatives have a two year term. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor take office the third Tuesday of January and have four year terms. U.S. Representatives take office January 3 and have a two year term.

Notes

1. ^ http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/de/delaware_senate_castle_vs_biden-1068.html
2. ^ Barone, Michael; Richard E. Cohen, Grant Ujifusa (2008). The Almanac of American Politics. Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group. pp. 370. ISBN 362-076X. http://www.nationaljournal.com/almanac/2008/about.php. 

References

• Barone, Michael; Richard E. Cohen (2005). Almanac of American Politics. Washington: National Journal Group. ISBN 0-89234-112-2. 
• Boyer, William W. (2000). Governing Delaware. Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press. ISBN 1-892142-23-6. 
• Cohen, Celia (2002). Only in Delaware, Politics and Politicians in the First State. Newark, Delaware: Grapevine Publishing. 
• Hoffecker, Carol E. (2004). Democracy in Delaware. Wilmington, Delaware: Cedar Tree Books. ISBN 1-892142-23-6. 
• Martin, Roger A. (1995). Memoirs of the Senate. Newark, DE: Roger A. Martin. 

Images

• Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States
• Delaware’s Governors
• The Political Graveyard
• Congressman Mike Castle
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
• U.S. House Committee on Financial Services
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Contacting the Congress
• News Meat
• Stem Cell Bill Gets Bush's First Veto
• The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act
• Mike Castle for Congress

Places with more information

• Delaware Historical Society; website; 505 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801; (302) 655-7161
• University of Delaware; Library website; 181 South College Avenue, Newark, Delaware 19717; (302) 831-2965