WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Former Delaware Gov. Mike Castle, a Republican moderate who championed creating the popular 50 State Quarters Program of commemorative coins while he served in Congress, has died. He was 86.

The Delaware Republican Party announced that Castle died Thursday in Greenville but shared no other details.

Castle was among Delaware’s most successful politicians, never losing a race until his stunning upset in a 2010 primary for the U.S. Senate seat that Democrat Joe Biden held before becoming vice president.

During his 18 years in Congress, Castle became a leader of centrist Republicans, earning a reputation as a fiscal conservative and social moderate not afraid to challenge the party line on issues ranging from government spending to environmental protection and aborti

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