It's starting to look like the DCCC's power-play of recruiting former Lt. Gov John Carney to run against Mike Castle for Delaware's at-large House seat may be successful in pushing the aging incumbent out of the House -- and possibly into the state's open seat Senate race instead. From Roll Call:
Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) said Thursday that he's leaning more toward running for Senate rather than another term in the House, if he decides to run for Congress again in 2010.
In an interview on Capitol Hill, Castle also acknowledged that several GOP Senators, including John McCain (Ariz.), have been pushing him in recent weeks to make the move to the other side of Capitol Hill. He said a final decision on his 2010 plans would likely have to come by early summer "at the latest."
It seems that since Castle figures he's going to get the race of his lifetime, he's decided that if he's going to run again in 2010 at all, he might as well go out with a bang by trying his hand at the Senate:
Castle said that he met last month with Carney, whom he considers a friend, and knew at that point that the former lieutenant governor was planning on jumping into the House race.
At that meeting Castle told Carney "there's probably a better chance I'll run for the Senate than the House. [But] I said there's a chance I won't run at all."
While Castle believes he can beat Carney - a recent poll showed Castle winning a head-to-head contest - the Delaware Congressman said the race would represent his toughest challenge since his first election in 1992 against another former lieutenant governor, S.B. Woo (D).
While this news would seem to push DE-AL just shy of Joe Cao's seat in Louisiana on the flip index, Castle's entry in the Senate race would create an instantly competitive contest. A recent PPP poll had Castle leading Democrat Beau Biden by 44-36 for the open seat.
In other words, the DCCC's gain could end up being the DSCC's headache.
