Mike Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mike Castle
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Official portrait, 2006
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Delaware's at-large district |
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| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Carper |
| Succeeded by | John Carney |
| 69th Governor of Delaware | |
| In office January 15, 1985 – December 31, 1992 |
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| Lieutenant | S. B. Woo Dale E. Wolf |
| Preceded by | Pete du Pont |
| Succeeded by | Dale E. Wolf |
| 20th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware | |
| In office January 20, 1981 – January 15, 1985 |
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| Governor | Pete du Pont |
| Preceded by | James D. McGinnis |
| Succeeded by | S. B. Woo |
| Member of the Delaware Senate from the 1st district |
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| In office January 7, 1969 – January 4, 1977 |
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| Preceded by | Russell D. F. Dineen |
| Succeeded by | Harris McDowell III |
| Member of the Delaware House of Representatives from the 6th district |
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| In office January 3, 1967 – January 7, 1969 |
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| Preceded by | Frank A. Parisi |
| Succeeded by | George C. Hering III |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Michael Newbold Castle
July 2, 1939 Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Jane DiSabatino |
| Education | Hamilton College (BS) Georgetown University (LLB) |
Michael Newbold Castle (born July 2, 1939) is an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 69th Governor of Delaware from 1985 to 1992. After that, he became a U.S. representative for Delaware from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.
His district covered the entire state of Delaware. It is the oldest unchanged district in the country. Mike Castle was the longest-serving U.S. Representative in Delaware's history. Before joining Congress, he worked in the Delaware General Assembly. He was in the State House from 1966 to 1967. Then he served in the State Senate from 1968 to 1976. He was also the 20th lieutenant governor of Delaware from 1981 to 1985.
In 2009, Mike Castle decided to run for a seat in the United States Senate. This was a special election in Delaware in 2010. He lost the Republican primary election to Christine O'Donnell. Mike Castle is the most recent Republican to represent Delaware in Congress. He is also a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.
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Early Life and Education
Mike Castle was born in Wilmington, Delaware. His parents were Louisa Johnston and James Manderson Castle, Jr. His family has some famous ancestors. These include Benjamin Franklin and Daniel Carroll, who helped found the United States. Mike's father was a patent lawyer for DuPont. This company was so important in Wilmington that people just called it "the company."
After finishing Tower Hill School in 1957, Mike went to Hamilton College in New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1961. He was also part of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. In 1964, he earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He became a lawyer in Delaware and Washington, D.C., that same year.
Family Life
Michael Castle married Jane DiSabatino on May 23, 1992. They do not have any children.
Starting His Political Journey
After becoming a lawyer, Mike Castle returned to Wilmington. He worked at a law firm called Connolly, Bove and Lodge. He was an associate from 1964 to 1973 and then a partner until 1975. He is a Republican.
He served as Deputy Attorney General of Delaware from 1965 to 1966. In 1966, he was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives. He served there for two years. Then he won a seat in the Delaware Senate, where he stayed for eight years. He was also the leader of the minority party in the Senate from 1975 to 1976.
In 1976, Castle left the state legislature. He started his own law firm with Carl Schnee. He returned to politics in 1980. He was asked to run for Lieutenant Governor of Delaware by Governor Pete du Pont. He won the election with 59% of the votes.
Serving as Governor of Delaware
Mike Castle was a popular choice to become Governor of Delaware. He easily won the election, beating former Delaware Supreme Court Justice William T. Quillen. Voters in Delaware elected him for a second term in 1988. He won by a large amount against Democrat Jacob Kreshtool. He is the last Republican to win a governor election in Delaware. Castle served two terms. He ended his second term a little early to start his first term as a U.S. Representative.
Representing Delaware in Congress
In 1992, Mike Castle could not run for Governor again. This was because of rules about how many terms a governor could serve. So, he decided to run for the U.S. Representative seat. The person holding that seat, Tom Carper, then ran for Governor. This was known as "the Swap." It allowed two popular politicians to continue serving.
Mike Castle was first elected as a U.S. Representative in 1992. He won against former Lieutenant Governor Shien Biau Woo. After that, he won his elections by large amounts eight more times. He was considered one of the most moderate Republicans in the U.S. House. He was also a co-chair of several groups in Congress. These included the Diabetes Caucus and the Community College Caucus.
Working on Committees
Mike Castle worked on important committees in the U.S. House. These included:
- Committee on Education and Labor
- Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education (He was the top Republican 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
Mike Castle's moderate views helped him in Delaware. The state was becoming more Democratic. However, his moderate record also made some conservative groups criticize him. For example, Club for Growth said he was the least conservative Republican in the U.S. House in 2008.
In 2004, Castle supported a bill to bring back the ban on assault weapons. He also supported the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. This bill wanted to allow more federal money for embryonic stem cell research. The goal was to find new treatments for many medical conditions. This bill passed Congress but was vetoed by President George W. Bush. In 2010, Castle voted to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule in the military. This rule had prevented openly gay people from serving openly.
During his time in Congress, Castle was very interested in numismatics, which is the study of coins and money. He wrote the law that created the American Platinum Eagle coin in 1995. He also helped create the 50 State quarters, Sacagawea dollar, presidential dollar coins, and America the Beautiful quarters programs. Because of his work, the Numismatic Guaranty Company called him "The Coinage Congressman."
In 2006, Castle had two minor strokes but fully recovered. He still won his election that year. In 2008, he increased his winning margin. He won by 23 points against Karen Hartley-Nagle. His popularity and long service made his victory expected.
Running for the U.S. Senate
In 2010, Mike Castle ran to be the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat. This seat used to belong to former Senator Joe Biden, who became Vice President. Castle lost the Republican primary election on September 14, 2010. He was defeated by Christine O'Donnell, who was popular with the Tea Party movement. After the primary, polls showed that Castle would have likely beaten the Democratic candidate, Chris Coons. However, Castle refused to support O'Donnell in the general election. Chris Coons went on to win the election against O'Donnell.
In June 2010, Castle was one of only two Republicans to vote for the DISCLOSE Act. This law aimed to limit spending on political campaigns by companies. It also required more information to be shared about political spending.
Community Meetings
Mike Castle held a town hall meeting to talk about health care reform with people in his district. A video from this meeting became widely known. It showed some people in the audience being very loud and upset. Castle calmly responded to a protester by saying, "If you're referring to the President there, he is a citizen of the United States." This event led to a lot of discussion in the news.
After Congress
During the 2016 presidential election, Mike Castle supported Donald Trump. He had first supported John Kasich during the Republican primary elections.
Images for kids
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Official portrait, 2006
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Lt. Governor Castle (left) with Governor Dick Thornburgh of Pennsylvania (center) and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, July 1982.
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Castle during the 109th Congress
