Kathy Castor Biography
Kathy Castor (Katherine Anne Castor) is an American politician born on 20th August 1966 in Miami, Florida, United States. She is the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 14th congressional district, serving in Congress since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Kathy Castor Age
She is 56 years old as of 2023. Castor was born on 20th August 1966 in Miami, Florida, United States. She celebrates her birthday on the 20th of August every year.
Kathy Castor Education
She graduated from the University of South Florida.
Kathy Castor Height
She stands on an average height of 5 Feet 4 inches and weighs around 70kgs.
Kathy Castor Family
She was born to Betty Castor (mother) and Donald Castor (father). Castor was raised in Miami. Her father was the Hillsborough County judge who died in April 2013.
Kathy Castor Husband
She is happily married to William Lewis. She has not revealed information regarding her husband. This information is currently under review and will be updated soon.
Kathy Castor children
She has two wonderful children called Julia Lewis, and Chrissy Lewis. She has not revealed information regarding her kids. This information is currently under review and will be updated soon.
Kathy Castor Political Career
Castor started her political career after her graduation. She is a former student of the University of South Florida President, former Hillsborough County Commissioner, a former Florida State Senator, a former Florida Education Commissioner, and a former Senator candidate for the United States in 2004. In addition, she started her career as Assistant General Counsel to the Florida Department of Community Affairs. She is the former President of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and a partner in a statewide law firm. In 2005, Castor was named as the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Woman of the Year in government. She also served on the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners from 2002 through 2006. Her primary focus was on health care. She worked to stop seniors and other patients in Hillsborough County’s health care plan from being forced into HMOs.
Kathy Castor Committee assignments
- Committee on Energy and Commerce
- Subcommittee on Energy and Power
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Select Committee on the Climate Crisis (Chair)
Kathy Castor Caucus
- Congressional Arts Caucus
- Afterschool Caucuses
Kathy Castor Political positions
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act
She was the only Democratic member of Congress from Florida to vote against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, she is also known as the “bailout bill,” stating: “After thoughtful consideration and review, I voted against President Bush’s $700 billion bailout. During Bush’s plan, she did not provide sufficient help to middle-class families and the housing squeeze of taxpayer protections.” Instead, she championed programs such as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and said it was “the lifeline that really saved the economy.” In Tampa Bay, Recovery Act funds are invested in transportation, education, housing, research, law enforcement, and various local infrastructure improvements. The I-4/Crosstown Connector received the largest Recovery Act investment in Tampa Bay, with $105 million to make the completion of the project possible and it opened to the public in 2014.
Iraq War
During her first congressional campaign in 2006, she supported the withdrawal of U.S. troops out of Iraq and the redeployment of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Her first committee assignment was the House Armed Services. In 2007, she voted to redeploy U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Health Care
She has been interested in health care since her first successful position on the Hillsborough County Commission, where she defended the need to fund the county’s indigent health care plan. In 2008, she successfully championed legislation to allow low-income families with overdue medical bills to still be eligible for student loans. She has also served on the House Energy & Commerce Committee since 111th Congress. During her membership in the Health Subcommittee, the subcommittee worked toward progressive reform for Florida families, businesses, and university medical and nursing colleges.
Since the Affordable Care Act passed, she has also worked to educate Floridians about new patient protections and rights, and about enrollment in the marketplace exchange. She has been critical of Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Florida Legislature for not accepting more than $50 billion in federal funding to expand Medicaid to provide health care access to more than 1 million Floridians. With the assistance of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, she and Rep Dave Reichert of Washington founded the bipartisan Children’s Health Care Caucus, dedicated to improving the quality of health care and health care access for children.
Education
She has called the GI Bill for the 21st Century which passed in 2008 despite strenuous opposition by President Bush “one of the most important pieces of legislation that I have cosponsored.” The bill restored full, four-year college scholarships to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from benefits at the time that we were only paying about 70 percent of a public college education and 30 percent of a private college education for returning veterans.
The legislation also allowed veterans to transfer those benefits to family members. She was outspoken on the cuts that the 2013 Republican sequester would create for Head Start programs as well as research programs at Moffitt Cancer Care and the University of South Florida. In 2014, she supported a bipartisan budget agreement that included restoring Head Start funding with an increase of $1 billion over the sequester level and $612 million over the 2013 enacted level.
LGBT Rights
She supports same-sex marriage. In 2005 she served on the Hillsborough County Commission, she was the lone commissioner to vote against a resolution to ban gay pride activities and events. The Hillsborough County Commission unanimously reversed its position on the gay pride ban. In 2013, she filed a historic Amicus Brief in support of the Supreme Court striking down Section 3 of the defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and applauded the Supreme Court when it made its ruling to do so later that year.
Gun policy
She is an outspoken advocate for gun control. Following the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, she participated in John Lewis’s Congressional sit-in to demand that those on the No Fly List lose the right to purchase firearms. She has spoken about her perception of Florida’s lacking gun legislation, saying, “My home state of Florida has some of the weakest gun laws; we lack expanded background checks that would prevent individuals on the terrorist watch list, criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill from purchasing guns.” She supports the ban on high-capacity magazines, as well as reinstating the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. While she acknowledged that preventing those on the No-Fly List from buying guns or banning assault rifles might not have prevented the Pulse nightclub shooting, she stated, “if we could stop another tragedy. . .I think it’s reasonable to say, here are a couple of common sense laws we could pass to make Americans safer.”
Kathy Castor campaigns
Castor entered the race of the 11th District when Jim Davis (D) chose to run for governor but (he lost to Charlie Crist in November). She won September 5, 2006, Democratic primary—the real contest in what has long been the only safe Democratic district on Florida’s Gulf Coast—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 who was only the Republican to file. She was later 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.
In 2014 there was no candidate filed to oppose her in the election. In 2016 Mike Prendergast considered a rematch against Castor 2016 but instead opted to run for sheriff of Citrus County. Christine Quinn, the founder of My Family Seasonings, challenged Castor in the 2016 election, running on a pro-business and anti-immigration platform. A court-ordered redistricting cut out the district’s share of St. Petersburg, replacing it with most of the portion of Tampa. However, it was no less Democratic than its predecessor, and Castor held her seat against Quinn, with 61.79% of the vote to Quinn’s 38.21%.
Kathy Castor Congress
Democrats Kathy Castor and Lois Frankel won re-election to their congressional seats on Friday when no challengers filed before the close of a qualifying period for federal offices. But the unhindered re-election of the two lawmakers from Tampa and West Palm Beach was the exception as the majority of Florida’s 27 U.S. House members face a highly competitive election year. Four seats, now held by Republicans, are open and they drew crowded fields. Eleven of 21 incumbents will face challenges in the Aug. 28 primary elections. Up to 18 of the incumbents will face challenges in the Nov. 6 general election.
Kathy Castor Net worth
She has an estimated salary ranging between $70,000 – $125,000 and has an estimated net worth of $1 Million -$5 Million which she earns from her political career.
