It doesn’t look like Mike Castle is running for much of anything, does it? In June, he declined a key committee post that opened up in the House, and was last seen wistfully sighing about how nice it would be to retire to Florida’s shuffleboard decks and early-bird specials.
Now comes Castle’s 2Q fundraising report, and impressive it ain’t. He took in $124K, and $110K of that was from PACs (which means he wasn’t exactly hustling hard for that dough). That brings his total for the cycle to just $195K – not terribly terrific. He does have $861K in his warchest, but the last Delaware Republican to face a contested senate election – Bill Roth in 2000 – spent $4.5 million in a badly losing effort (and contribution limits were less than half what they are today).
Castle needs to fish or cut bait – and right now, he ain’t catchin’ much of anything.
I kinda wish Biden’s son had to work for the Senate seat, I mean, at least a little bit. Maybe not Castle, he’d be too tough (although polls could certainly show a different race a year from now and it still wont even be election season).
Great news all around! Safe retention and safe pick-up.
I’ve actually been impressed on how well Castle has done in the state of Delaware over the years. Delaware has taken a shift to the left in the last 20 years, but Castle has been able to survive. Overall, his politics are not that offensive to me.
That being said, I hope he doesn’t run for the Senate. I think he’s at an age where he is more prone to retire than serve in DC until 2016. He should move to Florida and enjoy the surf.
If he runs, he will definitely make Delaware a highly-contested Senate race. Although the last time I checked he was leading the hypothetical matchups, I don’t believe he has the energy or desire to campaign as hard as he did when he was first elected as governor. Plus, Beau Biden will be much more energetic, and he’s has a great last name to boot.
Anybody know? His candidacy is an open secret, of course, but still.