Julian Castro
Julián Castro (/ˌhuːliˈɑːn/ HOO-lee-AHN,[1] Spanish: [xuˈljan]; born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician from San Antonio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the youngest member of President Obama's cabinet, serving as the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 to 2017. Castro served as the mayor of his native San Antonio, Texas from 2009 until he joined Barack Obama's cabinet in 2014.
This article is about the American politician. For the former president of Venezuela, see Julián Castro (Venezuelan politician).
Julián Castro
Elena Guajardo
September 16, 1974
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
2
- Rosie Castro (mother)
Joaquin Castro (twin brother)
Castro was mentioned as a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.[2][3] He is the twin brother of Congressman Joaquin Castro. On January 12, 2019, Castro launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2020 in San Antonio.[4] He dropped out of the presidential race on January 2, 2020,[5][6] endorsing the candidacy of Elizabeth Warren soon after.[7]
Early life and family[edit]
Castro[8] was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Maria "Rosie" Castro and Jessie Guzman.[9] He is the identical twin brother of current United States Representative Joaquin Castro;[8] Julián was born a minute before Joaquin; they were born at 2:40 and 2:41 am, respectively.[10]
Castro is of Mexican descent. His mother is a Chicana political activist who helped establish the Chicano political party La Raza Unida,[11] and who ran for the San Antonio City Council in 1971.[8] Castro once stated, "My mother is probably the biggest reason that my brother and I are in public service. Growing up, she would take us to a lot of rallies and organizational meetings and other things that are very boring for an 8-, 9-, 10-year-old".[12] His father, Jessie Guzman, is a retired mathematics teacher and political activist. Never married, Rosie and Jessie separated when Castro and his brother were eight years old.[11] Castro's Texan roots trace back to 1920, when his grandmother Victoria Castro joined extended family members there as a six-year-old orphan from northern Mexico.[8]
Education[edit]
Castro attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, where he played football, basketball and tennis; he also collected trading cards.[13] He skipped his sophomore year[14] and graduated in 1992,[15] ranking ninth in his class.[11] He had received an offer to play tennis at Trinity University, an NCAA Division III school in his hometown, but chose to attend Stanford University,[16] along with his twin brother Joaquin.
Castro graduated from Stanford in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in political science and communications. He said he began thinking about entering politics while at Stanford,[11] where he and his brother launched their first campaigns and won student senate seats, tying for the highest number of votes.[8] Castro has credited affirmative action for his admission into Stanford, telling The New York Times, "Joaquin and I got into Stanford because of affirmative action. I scored 1210 on my SATs, which was lower than the median matriculating student. But I did fine in college and in law school. So did Joaquin. I'm a strong supporter of affirmative action because I've seen it work in my own life".[17] Between his sophomore and junior years, Castro worked as an intern at the White House during the presidency of Bill Clinton.[18]
Castro entered Harvard Law School in 1997 and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2000.[19][20] His brother graduated from both schools with him.[11] After law school, the two brothers worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld before starting their own firm in 2005.[21]
In 2018, Castro was named as the Dean's Distinguished Fellow and Fellow of the Dávila Chair in International Trade Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.[22]
Mayor of San Antonio[edit]
Castro ran for mayor of San Antonio in 2005 and was widely viewed as the front runner in a field that also included retired judge Phil Hardberger and conservative city councilman Carroll Schubert. He was defeated by approximately 4000 votes when Hardberger received 51.5% of the votes in the runoff.[25][26] Following his election defeat, Castro established his own law practice.[18]
Castro ran for mayor of San Antonio again in 2009. Castro hired Christian Archer, who had run Hardberger's campaign in 2005, to run his own 2009 campaign.[18] Castro won the election on May 9, 2009, with 56.23% of the vote, his closest opponent being Trish DeBerry-Mejia.[27] He became the fifth Latino mayor in the history of San Antonio. He was the youngest mayor of a top-50 American city.[28] Castro easily won re-election in 2011 and 2013, receiving 82.9% of the vote in 2011[29] and 67% of the vote in 2013.[30]
In 2010, Castro created SA2020, a community-wide visioning effort. It generated a list of goals created by the people of San Antonio based on their collective vision for San Antonio in the year 2020. SA2020 then became a nonprofit organization tasked with turning that vision into a reality.[31] Castro also established Cafe College in 2010, offering college guidance to San Antonio-area students. In 2012 he led a voter referendum to expand pre-kindergarten education.[28] Castro persuaded two of the most prominent businessmen in San Antonio, Charles Butt and Joe Robles, to lead an effort to pass a $30 million sales tax to fund the pre-kindergarten education program.[18]
In March 2010, Castro was named to the World Economic Forum's list of Young Global Leaders. Later that year, Time magazine placed him on its "40 under 40" list of rising stars in American politics.[32]
Castro gained national attention in 2012 when he was the first Hispanic to deliver the keynote address at a Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[33][34] Following the 2012 elections, Castro declined the position of United States Secretary of Transportation, partly with an eye on running for governor of Texas after 2017.[18] However, in 2014, Castro accepted President Barack Obama's offer of the position of United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.[18] Castro resigned as mayor effective July 22, 2014, so that he could take up his duties in Washington. The San Antonio City Council elected councilmember Ivy Taylor to replace him.[35]
Memoir[edit]
In October 2018, Castro published his memoir, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream through Little, Brown and Company.[48]
Julian Castro
Julián Castro
16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2014–2017)
Mayor of San Antonio, Texas (2009–2014)
January 12, 2019
January 2, 2020
Rep. Joaquin Castro (campaign chairman)[49]
Maya Rupert (campaign manager)[49]
Derek Eadon (deputy campaign manager)[49]
Jennifer Fiore (communications advisor)[49]
Scott Atlas (finance chairman)[49]
US$10,264,312.76[50] (12/31/2019)
One Nation. One Destiny.[51]
Political positions[edit]
Economy[edit]
Castro "believes in balanced budgets".[89] He also supports increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.[90]
Personal life[edit]
In 2007, Castro married Erica Lira, an elementary school teacher. They divorced in 2022.[111] They have a daughter who was born in 2009, and a son born in December 2014. [11][112]
Castro is Catholic.[113] He is not a native Spanish speaker, but he began learning the language in 2010 while serving as mayor of San Antonio. He also studied Latin and Japanese in school.[103][114]