Castle Loss to Remove Bipartisan K-12 Policy Voice

Jane Castle embraces her husband, U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, as he conceded to Christine O’Donnell in Delaware’s Republican senatorial primary on Sept. 14.

—Jennifer Corbett/The News Journal

By Alyson Klein and Christina A. Samuels

Rep. Michael N. Castle’s loss in his quest for the GOP senatorial nomination in Delaware will remove from Congress a longtime member with deep expertise in education issues and a reputation for helping bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats on thorny aspects of K-12 policy.

The nine-term House member and former governor of Delaware lost the GOP U.S. Senate nomination last week to Christine O’Donnell, a tea party-backed marketing and media consultant also vying to fill the seat formerly held by now-Vice President Joe Biden.

Rep. Castle served as a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee. During his nearly two decades in Congress, he was both the ranking member—and, when the GOP was in the majority, the chairman—of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood,...