Posted: Oct. 6, 2009

CASTLE TO RUN FOR THE SENATE 

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

Congressman Mike Castle announced Tuesday at a press conference in Wilmington that he will run for the U.S. Senate in 2010.

Castle's intentions have been the best kept secret in Delaware, but he made a series of telephone calls early Tuesday to tell Republican leaders and other close advisers of his decision.

Castle, a nine-term congressman and ex-governor, is the last major Republican political figure in Delaware, and his party dearly needs him to run.

His decision sets up what could be a titanic struggle with Beau Biden, the attorney general who is the likely Democratic candidate for the Senate seat held by Biden's father until he became the vice president. Ted Kaufman, a longtime aide to Joe Biden, was appointed as a placeholder, saying he would not seek election.

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