Julian Castro: I’m running for president

He and his twin brother, Joaquin, were raised in San Antonio during the 1970s by his grandmother Victoria, a maid, and his single mother, Rosie. Joaquin, younger by only a minute, is a U.S. congressman and the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He’s also tipped to lead his sibling’s campaign, which will reportedly be based in the Alamo City.

“When my grandmother got here almost a hundred years ago, I’m sure she never could have imagined that just two generations later, one of her grandsons would be serving as a member of the United States Congress and the other would be standing with you here today to say these words: I am a candidate for President of the United States of America,” he said.

Castro, a father of two married to teacher Erica Lira Castro, is anticipated to be one of the youngest and most prominent Latinos to contest the Democratic Party’s nomination. Fellow Texas Democrat and popular former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, however, may mire his long 2020 odds should he decide to enter the race.

Though some political commentators argue Julian Castro lacks the experience to be the nation’s next commander in chief, the product of his hometown’s public school system, Stanford University, and Harvard Law School became San Antonio’s youngest ever city councilman in 2001 at only 26. Despite an unsuccessful 2005 mayoral bid, Castro was then elected chief executive in 2009 at the age of 34 of what is now the country’s seventh-largest city.

Castro’s work during his three terms as mayor, especially the city’s expansion of pre-K education and college-access programs, piqued the interest of top Democratic Party figures, including former President Barack Obama. Shortly afterward, Obama’s team chose Castro in 2012 to become the first Hispanic to deliver a Democratic National Convention keynote address.

“My family’s story isn’t special. What’s special is the America that makes our story possible. Ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation. No matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward,” Castro told 2012 party faithful in Charlotte, N.C.

Although the speech failed to propel Castro to the political stardom Obama enjoyed after his 2004 Democratic National Convention turn in Boston, the prime-time appearance didn’t hurt Castro’s career. In 2014, he was tapped to lead Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development and, two years later, was rumored to be on the shortlist for 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s running mate.

The video announcing Castro had formed a presidential exploratory committee last month echoed his 2012 convention speech, foreshadowing a campaign for the White House that’s unafraid of leaning into his past.

“This is a place where dreams can become real. No matter where we’re from, we’re united by the same daily needs,” he said. “So I’m taking a lesson from my mother. If we want to see a change in this country, we don’t wait, we work.”

In the intervening month, Castro has fine-tuned a stump speech during a slew of media interviews and early-voting state visits, pitching himself as a progressive contender who supports policies such as “Medicare for all,” while also promising to reject political action committee money.

“My vision is that the United States be the smartest, the strongest, and the safest nation on Earth in the 21st century. Today, more than ever, each of those three things goes together,” he told Bustle in December.

It’s a message, granted, that he’s honed for a long time, most recently as a surrogate in 2018, boosting Democrats through his Opportunity First PAC, and as part of a book tour promoting last year’s Little Brown release of his An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream memoir.

Whether it’s a sentiment that resonates with voters, particularly in a potentially crowded primary field of more than two dozen candidates, remains to be seen.

Peter Guzman, the Republican head of Nevada’s Latin Chamber of Commerce with whom Castro met this week, said Tuesday to the Associated Press that he told Castro he’d made a great vice president.

“If [it] was Joe Biden, I would already be having meetings with him,” Guzman said.

Castro’s announcement comes after Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii, on Friday told CNN she was vying for the presidency and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts, last month created her own exploratory committee. Maryland congressman John Delaney, West Virginia state senator Richard Ojeda, and a host of lesser known entrants, such as Venture for America founder Andrew Yang, have already declared their candidacy.