Michael N. Castle, Delaware's lone and longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who served nine terms in Congress and was also Delaware's governor, lieutenant governor and a state legislator, died Aug. 14 at the Country House in Greenville. He was 86.
Castle, a Republican stalwart, was a professional politician who spent the majority of his four-decade career as an elected official.
Today, Delaware residents might be most familiar with the Michael N. Castle Trail, a biking and walking route along the north shore of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Castle, an athlete and known cyclist, helped secure federal funding for the project while he was a U.S. congressman.
"What set him apart was always wanting to take a bipartisan approach – that was his brand – and always focusing on accomplishing things. He was very practical; very pragmatic," said Robert Perkins, executive director of the Delaware Business Roundtable and a former gubernatorial chief of staff for Castle. "They are two characteristics that are sorely missing in today's political discourse, that's for sure."
Castle has been out of the political limelight since shortly after September 2010 when he was dealt a stunning defeat in Delaware's Republican Senate primary by Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell.
The Delaware seat, formerly held by President Joe Biden for 36 years, became open when Biden ended his Senate career after becoming vice president to President Barack Obama in 2009.
Some believed Castle was planning to occupy Biden's former Senate seat for the remaining four years of the term and then retire. That didn't happen with the upset victory of O'Donnell.
After over 40 years of government service, Castle, who had never lost an election, was out and the defeat left him shaken. He told reporters he was "hurt and stunned" by the loss.
Castle, a moderate Republican, refused to back O'Donnell, perhaps best known for an where she notoriously declared, "I am not a witch." She lost the November election to current Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, then New Castle County executive. Castle, if he had won the primary, was expected to defeat Coons, then considered an underdog.
It was a bitter pill for Castle who had seen one of Delaware's two Senate seats slip away before. For years, Castle had hoped to succeed Republican incumbent Sen. Bill Roth. When Roth refused to step aside and retire in 2000, Castle wouldn't challenge him in a primary. Roth eventually lost the seat to outgoing Democratic Gov. Tom Carper.
Mike Ratchford, who served as chief of staff for Castle during both his governorship and time on Capitol Hill, remembered his former boss as down-to-earth, bordering on shy.
"He should be remembered as someone who always put Delaware and the interests of the country first," said Ratchford, who also served as secretary of state under Castle. "He was not a particularly partisan fellow. He didn't ask, 'What's the right thing to do politically?' He would ask, 'What's the right thing to do?'"
Tall (6-foot-4) and affable, Castle was a Wilmington native and a descendant of Benjamin Franklin on his mother's side. His father was a DuPont Co. patent attorney. Castle graduated from Tower Hill School in Wilmington and Hamilton College in New York. He earned a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
He worked as an associate for the Wilmington firm Connolly, Bove and Lodge, later becoming a partner, and served for about a year as a Delaware deputy attorney general.
While working for the state, Castle began his Delaware political career when he was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1966 and was one of the state Legislature's youngest officeholders.
After a two-year term, he was elected to the state Senate, where he served for eight years.
Castle finished his term and returned to private practice, opening a firm with his longtime friend, the late Carl Schnee, a U.S. attorney under President Bill Clinton. For a time, Castle and Schnee were owners of the popular Bottle & Cork bar in Dewey Beach.
Castle was wooed back to politics in 1980 by Gov. Pete du Pont to run as his lieutenant governor for du Pont's second term. Castle served as du Pont's right-hand man until 1985 and then easily won the office of governor. Du Pont would later urge Castle to run for the Senate.
Castle was elected to a second term in 1988.
During his time in office, Castle supported banking industry expansion and anti-takeover legislation for corporations. He also backed farmland preservation and sprawl control, albeit with limited success. Castle's administration created the Transportation Trust Fund, a financing institution that paid for the billion-dollar construction of Delaware Route 1.
In May 1992, while serving as governor, the then 52-year-old married his wife Jane DiSabatino in a Catholic ceremony at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Dover. The couple had no children.
Later that year in 1992, in an only-in-Delaware political move, Castle would swap seats with then-Rep. Tom Carper. Castle ran for Carper's seat and Carper ran for governor. Both men won.
Lt. Gov. Dale Wolf assumed the governorship in 1992 when Castle stepped down after being elected to Congress. Wolf held the office for less than three weeks and was Delaware's last Republican governor.
In a 2007 Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, Castle was selected as the most popular politician in Delaware.
"His fiscal conservative and modern stance on social issues is a perfect fit for Delawareans," according to a 2004 editorial in The News Journal. "That's why he keeps getting elected.
Former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, said the reason why Mike Castle was one of the most popular leaders in Delaware's history was that he "focused on solving problems and on being a public servant for all Delawareans, including those who didn't vote for him.
"He did his homework. In my early days as Governor, I asked Congressman Castle to support a bill in Washington that would promote renewable energy solutions. He called me back a week later and said he had read all 1,400 pages," said Markell, who served from 2009 to 2017.
"And he said, 'My party won't be happy with me, but supporting this bill is the right thing for Delaware and for the country.' He was one of a handful of Republicans to support the bill. "
Markell said, "Castle built a career on doing the right thing, listening to all sides, and treating everybody with respect. We need more leaders like him across the United States today."
After his last chance at a run for the Senate seat ended in 2010, Castle returned to his former law career. In 2011, he joined DLA Piper, a global law firm.
Castle has been a speaker at the University of Delaware and has received the Josiah Marvel Cup from the Delaware Chamber of Commerce.
Check back. This story will be updated.
Patricia Talorico can be found on Instagram, X and Facebook. Email [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Michael Castle, former governor, congressman, dies at age 86
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