Castle spent about half of his professional life as a partner in a law firm, which is presumably where he made his money. That said, I have no problem with taking a hard look at all candidates. I am guessing that someone, either the Dems or O’Donnel’s people, did take a good look at Castle. Or that someone did during one of his previous campaigns. But whatever is true about her former opponent, or her current opponent, O’Donnell will have to answer the very legitimate concerns raised about her if she wants to get elected. If concerns come up about her opponent the same will be true of him, of course.
Following is Castle’s resume from Wiki, acknowledged to be a left-leaning source.
Castle finished school and passed the bar in 1964. Which gives him a working career of about 46 years.
He was in political office from 1965 to 1974 and from 1981 to 2010.
So he worked as a lawyer from 1964 - 1965 and from 1976 - 1980 [he formed his own law firm].
There was some overlap from 1965 - 1975 when he held both political position and worked at a law firm.
So, you could say that he only worked as a lawyer for 6/46 of his career … 13% or 16/46 of his career when he had dual paths 35%
Here’s the Wiki resume which I shortened, but left in the relevant and/or interesting bits.
Castle attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Hamilton in 1961. In 1964, he earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to both the Delaware Bar and the Washington, D.C. Bar that same year.
Following his admission to the bar, Castle returned to Wilmington and joined Connolly, Bove and Lodge, working as an associate (1964-1973) and later partner (1973-1975).
Castle served as Deputy Attorney General of Delaware from 1965 to 1966, and was elected to the Delaware House of Representatives in 1966. He served as a state representative for two years before winning a seat in the Delaware Senate, where he remained for eight years. He also served as minority leader from 1975 to 1976.
In 1976, Castle left the state legislature and returned to the full-time practice of law, founding his own firm with Carl Schnee (who was later nominated as U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware by President Bill Clinton in 1999).
He returned to politics in 1980, when he was recruited to run for Lieutenant Governor of Delaware by Governor Pete du Pont. He served from 1981 to 1985.
In 1985, as the hand-picked choice of the popular Governor du Pont, he easily won election as Governor of Delaware, defeating former Delaware Supreme Court Justice William T. Quillen. In the campaign, Castle was criticized for being a shadow of his mentor and only promising an extension of du Pont’s program. He was re-elected as governor in 1988.
In 1992, Castle did not run again for Governor, due to constitutional term limits. The result was what became known as “the Swap.” Castle ran for the seat of U.S. Representative Thomas R. Carper and Carper ran for Governor. Delaware’s political leadership had quietly worked out the arrangement and retained the services of two very popular office holders.
Castle was first elected U.S. Representative in 1992, and won re-election by wide margins eight times, in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008.
Castle is a member of various moderate/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. Castle’s centrist positions have made him the target of conservative groups such as Club for Growth, who ranked him the least conservative Republican in the U.S. House in 2008, and RemoveRINOs, who, in April 2010, named him the Ace of Spades on its most-wanted list.
Castle cosponsored the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The bill proposed expanding the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research, expecting that this funding would generate more research and ultimately greater progress in addressing many kinds of diseases.
Despite the production of induced pluripotent stem cell research, Castle is still pushing for the funding of embryonic stem cell research.
Castle suffered two minor strokes during the 2006 campaign, but fully recovered.
On November 9th, 2009, Congressman Castle’s District was profiled by Stephen Colbert in his segment “Better Know a District.”
In 2010, Congressman Castle ran to be the Republican candidate to fill the seat of Former Senator Joe Biden, now Vice President. Congressman Castle was defeated in the Republican primary on September 14, 2010, by Christine O’Donnell, the Tea Party favorite.
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. The bill requires added disclosure for political spending by corporations and prohibits some corporate political spending. [7]
