Michael Newbold Castle (2 July 1939-) was the Republican Governor of Delaware from 15 January 1985 to 31 December 1992 (succeeding Pete du Pont and preceding Dale E. Wolf) and serving in the US House of Representatives (R-DL at-large) from 3 January 1993 to 3 January 2011 (succeeding Tom Carper and preceding John Carney).
Biography[]
Michael Newbold Castle was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1939, a descendant of US Senator John W. Johnston (D-VA), Benjamin Franklin, and Daniel Carroll. He practiced law before serving as Deputy Attorney General of Delaware from 1965 to 1966, in the State House from 1967 to 1969, in the State Senate from 1969 to 1977, as Lieutenant Governor from 1981 to 1985, as Governor from 1985 to 1992, and in the US House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011. He oversaw an extension of Governor Pete du Pont's program as the former governor's protégé, and he was a liberal Republican who supported the banning of assault weapons and supported a woman's right to an abortion. He failed in his 2010 US Senate bid, losing the Republican primary to Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell.