Congressman Castle says no to write-in campaign

Castle says a write-in campaign is not in the “best interest of all Delawareans.”

Congressman Mike Castle says he will not make an effort to win a seat in the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate.  About a week ago, Castle said he was exploring the idea of running making it a three-way race against his former GOP primary foe Christine O’Donnell and Democrat Chris Coons.  But in a statement released Wednesday night, Castle says “I do not believe that seeking office in this manner is in the best interest of all Delawareans.”

Castle says he’s been humbled by the encouragement from friends and supporters to pursue a write-in effort, but instead of campaigning, he says he wants to focus on serving out the remaining months of his term in a “principled manner.”

A year ago, the Delaware Senate race was expected to be an epic match-up between Castle and Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden.  Biden talked about those expectations during an interview on CNN last night.  Host John King asked Biden if he was kicking himself for not getting into a race where he would have been favored against Republican Christine O’Donnell.  Biden answered, “No, not at all.  This is Delaware’s seat.  I had gotten off a plane from Iraq, and then I got put in my lap a really, really critically important case that we’re prosecuting in our state.  I only had one choice to make and that’s to finish my job as Attorney General.”  Biden says he’s doing his best to “stir it up and do everything I can to make sure Chris Coons, who is our candidate, becomes the next U.S. Senator.”

While much of Delaware’s focus is on the race to be the  state’s next U.S. Senator, the man that person will replace said goodbye to the Senate on Wednesday.  Senator Ted Kaufman’s time as fill-in for Joe Biden will end once a replacement is elected.  He delivered his farewell address to his Senate colleagues on Wednesday, saying, “I will always cherish the unlikely opportunity I had to serve Delaware as its Senator.”