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Kathy Castor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 4, 2007
Preceded by	Jim Davis
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	August 20, 1966 (1966-08-20) (age 41) Miami, Florida
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	William Lewis
Religion	Presbyterian

Kathy Castor (born August 20, 1966 in Miami, Florida) is the Democratic congresswoman for Florida's 11th congressional district. This district covers most of the city of Tampa, most of south St. Petersburg, a small portion of unincorporated Hillsborough County, a small section of the city of Temple Terrace and a small section of Manatee County.

Castor is known as an outspoken advocate for access to affordable health care, a clean and healthy environment, responsible growth management and ethics in government.

Contents 1 Education and family 2 House career 2.1 Election 2.2 In Congress 3 External links 4 References

Born in Miami and raised in Tampa, Castor holds a bachelors degree in political science from Emory University (1988) and a J.D. from Florida State University College of Law (1991). She is married to William "Bill" Lewis and they have two daughters.

Castor began her legal career as Assistant General Counsel to the Florida Department of Community Affairs where she enforced growth management laws throughout the state of Florida. She is the former President of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and partner in a statewide law firm. In 2005, Castor was named as the Tampa Bay Business Journal's Woman of the Year in government.

Castor also is the daughter of former University of South Florida President, former Hillsborough County Commissioner, former Florida Education Commissioner and 2004 United States Senate candidate Betty Castor; and Don Castor, a Hillsborough County judge.

In 2002 she won a seat to the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners, which she held through 2006. On the Commission, Castor was the champion for ethics in government and the award-winning Hillsborough County Health Plan that provides afforadble primary care to hardworking families. She often battled pro-development commissioners over better growth management and fiscally-responsible policies.

Main article: Florida U.S. House election, 2006

The House seat in the district became open when Democrat Jim Davis (D) chose to run for governor (he lost to Charlie Crist in November).

Castor won the September 5, 2006 Democratic primary, defeating challengers Al Fox, Lesley "Les" Miller, Scott Farrell, and Michael Steinberg. She received 54% of the vote, a full 20 points ahead of state Senate Minority Leader Les Miller in the five-way race.

Eddie Adams Jr., an architect and former hospital laboratory technologist,^[1] was the only Republican to file. Castor was endorsed by the pro-choice political action committee EMILY's List, the League of Conservation Voters, Oceans Champions, The Tampa Tribune, The St. Petersburg Times and The Bradenton Herald.

Castor handily won the 2006 November general election, 70% to 30%--becoming the first woman to represent Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties in the United States Congress and only the third representative of this Tampa-based district since its creation in 1963 (it was the 10th District from 1963-67, the 6th from 1967-73, the 7th from 1973-93 and has been the 11th since 1993).

Castor serves on the powerful House Rules Committee--a rare assignment for a freshman. She also serves on the the House Armed Services Committee (Air and Land Subcommittee and Terrorism and Unconventional Threats Subcommittee), and represents the 41 Democratic new members elected in 2006 on Nancy Pelosi's Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

Castor was the first freshman in the 110th Congress to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives in January 2007 where she championed the new House ethics package.

• U.S. Representative Kathy Castor official House site
• Kathy Castor at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Kathy Castor campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Kathy Castor issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Kathy Castor campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Kathy Castor (FL) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Kathy Castor profile
• Washington Post Congress Votes Database: Kathy Castor voting record
• Castor for Congress — official campaign site
• Delta Delta Delta Distinguished Alumnae Profile

Political offices
Preceded by Jim Davis	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 11th congressional district 2007-Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

v • d • e Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators	Bill Nelson (D), Mel Martinez (R)
Representative(s)	Jeff Miller (R), Allen Boyd (D), Corrine Brown (D), Ander Crenshaw (R), Ginny Brown-Waite (R), Cliff Stearns (R), John Mica (R), Ric Keller (R), Gus Bilirakis (R), Bill Young (R), Kathy Castor (D), Adam Putnam (R), Vern Buchanan (R), Connie Mack IV (R), Dave Weldon (R), Tim Mahoney (D), Kendrick Meek (D), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R), Robert Wexler (D), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), Ron Klein (D), Alcee Hastings (D), Tom Feeney (R), Mario Diaz-Balart (R)
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Persondata
NAME	Castor, Kathy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	1966-08-20
PLACE OF BIRTH	Miami, Florida
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH