28 Facts About Mike Castle

Mike Castle was the longest-serving US Representative in the state's history.

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Castle was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of Louisa Johnston and James Manderson Mike Castle, Jr.

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

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

Mike Castle served as minority leader from 1975 to 1976.

In 1976, Mike Castle left the state legislature and returned to the full-time practice of law, founding his own firm with Carl Schnee.

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

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

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

Mike Castle was first elected US Representative in 1992, defeating former Lieutenant Governor Shien Biau Woo.

Mike 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.

Mike Castle was considered one of the most moderate Republicans in the US House.

Mike Castle was a member of various 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.

Mike Castle is pro-choice and supports some gun control measures.

Mike Castle voted against a constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage.

In December 2010, Mike Castle was one of fifteen Republican House members to vote in favor of repealing the United States military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on openly gay service members.

Mike Castle later sponsored the legislation that created the 50 State quarters, Sacagawea dollar, presidential dollar coins, and America the Beautiful quarters programs, and several commemorative coins.

Mike Castle suffered two minor strokes during the 2006 campaign, but fully recovered.

Mike Castle appeared in the documentary, Keeping the Peace, which focused on Michael Berg's 'anti-war' campaign for Mike Castle's congressional seat in 2006.

In 2010, Congressman Mike Castle ran to be the Republican candidate to fill the seat of former Senator Joe Biden, who had become Vice President on January 20,2009.

Mike Castle was defeated in the Republican primary on September 14,2010, by Christine O'Donnell, the Tea Party favorite.

Mike Castle refused to support O'Donnell in the Senate campaign against Coons.

In June 2010, Castle was one of only two Republicans to vote in favor of the DISCLOSE Act, intended to limit spending on political campaigns by corporations in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission.