Mike Castle

Michael Newbold Castle (born July 2, 1939) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992 and as the U.S. representative from DE's at-large congressional district from 1993 to 2011.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

The district includes the entire state of Delaware and is the oldest intact surviving district in the nation.

He was the longest-serving U.S. Representative in the state's history.

After graduating from Tower Hill School in 1957, he attended Hamilton College in Clinton, Oneida County, New York.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Hamilton in 1961.

While at Hamilton, Castle was a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

In 1964, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to both the Delaware Bar and the Washington, D.C. Bar that same year.

Following his admission to the bar, Castle returned to Wilmington and joined Connolly, Bove and Lodge, working as an associate (1964–1973) and later partner (1973–1975).

A Republican, he served as Deputy Attorney General of Delaware from 1965 to 1966, and was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 1966.

He served as a state representative for two years before winning a seat in the Delaware Senate, where he remained for eight years.

Before his election to Congress, Castle served as a member of the Delaware General Assembly, starting in the State House of Representatives from 1966 to 1967 and then in the State Senate from 1968 to 1976.

He also served as minority leader from 1975 to 1976.

In 1976, Castle left the state legislature and returned to the full-time practice of law, founding his own firm with Carl Schnee (who was later nominated as U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware by President Bill Clinton in 1999).

He returned to politics in 1980, when he was recruited to run for Lieutenant Governor of Delaware by Governor Pete du Pont.

He defeated Democratic state senator Thomas B. Sharp, with 59% to 40% of the vote.

He was the 20th lieutenant governor of Delaware from 1981 to 1985, and the 69th governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992.

He served from 1981 to 1985, and headed panels on education and drunk driving.

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.

Delaware voters however elected him to another term in 1988 when he defeated Democrat Jacob Kreshtool by a wide margin, and is the last time a Republican won a governor election in the state.

Castle served two terms, cutting the second one slightly short when he resigned to begin his first term as U.S. Representative.

Michael Castle and Jane DiSabatino married on May 23, 1992; they have no children.

Both are Roman Catholics.

In 1992, Castle could not run again for Governor, due to constitutional term limits.

The result was what became known as "the Swap."

Castle ran for the seat of U.S. Representative Tom 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 U.S. Representative in 1992, defeating former Lieutenant Governor Shien Biau Woo.

Since then, he 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 was the co-chair of several Congressional caucuses, including the Diabetes Caucus, the Community College Caucus, the Biomedical Research Caucus and the Passenger Rail Caucus.

On October 6, 2009, Castle announced his candidacy in the 2010 special election for the seat in the United States Senate held by Democrat Ted Kaufman.

Kaufman, appointed by Governor Ruth Ann Minner to fill the vacancy created by Joe Biden (who resigned to become vice president of the United States), was not a candidate in the election.

In one of the most surprising election results of 2010, Castle lost the Republican primary to Christine O'Donnell.

He would have been heavily favored in the general election against Democrat Chris Coons, who defeated O'Donnell by 17 percentage points.

Castle is the most recent Republican to represent Delaware in Congress.

Castle is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

Castle was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of Louisa Johnston (née Bache) and James Manderson Castle, Jr. One of his maternal great-great-grandfathers was Virginia Senator John W. Johnston, and Castle's fifth great-grandfathers were founding fathers Benjamin Franklin and Daniel Carroll.

Castle's father was a patent lawyer for DuPont, a firm so central to the city that it was long known in Wilmington simply as "the company."

The election determined who would fill the balance of Biden's term, which ended on January 3, 2015.