Joaquin Castro

Joaquin Castro (born September 16, 1974)[1] is an American Democratic politician who has served in the United States House of Representatives for Texas' 20th congressional district since 2013. The district includes just over half of his native San Antonio, Texas, as well as some of its nearby suburbs. From 2003 to 2013, Castro was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 125.[2] While in the Texas state legislature, Castro served as vice-chair of the Higher Education Committee and was a member of the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee. He also previously served on other committees, such as County Affairs, Border & International Affairs, and Juvenile Justice & Family Issues.[2]

Joaquin Castro
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 20th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded byCharlie Gonzalez
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 125th district
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 14, 2013
Preceded byArt Reyna
Succeeded byJustin Rodriguez
Personal details
Born (1974-09-16) September 16, 1974
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Anna Flores (m. 2013)
Children2
RelativesJulián (twin brother)
EducationStanford University (B.A.)
Harvard University (J.D.)
Signature
WebsiteHouse website

Joaquin served as campaign chair for his identical twin brother, Julián Castro, during his 2020 presidential campaign.[3][4]

Early life, education, and early career

Castro was born and raised in San Antonio and attended Thomas Jefferson High School. Castro has stated that his interest in public service developed at a young age from watching his parents' involvement in political campaigns and civic causes. His father, Jessie Guzman, is a retired mathematics teacher from the Edgewood Independent School District in the west side of San Antonio, and his mother, Marie "Rosie" Castro, a community activist. Jessie and Rosie never married. Castro's mother named him after Rodolfo Gonzales' poem I Am Joaquin.[5] Castro graduated with honors from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communications and earned a Juris Doctor with his twin brother at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[6] After law school, the two brothers continued together to work for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld before starting their own firm in 2005.[7]

He worked in public education, health care, and the juvenile justice system.[6] Castro is a member of the National College Advising Corps, St. Mary's University Mission and Identity Taskforce, St. Philip's College President's Advisory Board, and Texas Family Impact Seminar.

Texas House of Representatives

Elections

Castro ran for Texas's 125th House district in 2002. He defeated incumbent State Representative Arthur Reyna in the Democratic primary 64-36 percent.[8] In the general election, he defeated Republican Nelson Balido, 60-40 percent. He was twenty-eight at the time of his election to the state House.[9] In 2004, he won re-election to a second term unopposed.[10] In 2006, he won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican Nelson Balido, 58%-38%.[10] In 2008, he won re-election to a fourth term unopposed.[10] In 2010, he won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Libertarian Jeffrey Blunt, 78%-22%.[10]

Committee assignments
  • County Affairs
  • Higher Education (Vice Chair)[11]
  • Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
  • Oversight of Higher Ed Governance, Excellence & Transparency[12]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

In June 2011, Castro announced that he was running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the newly-drawn Texas's 35th congressional district. He was initially set to challenge fellow Democrat and nine-term incumbent Lloyd Doggett, whose home in Austin had been drawn into the district, in the Democratic primary[13]

However, on November 28, after Charlie Gonzalez of the neighboring 20th District announced his retirement after seven terms, Castro announced his intent to run instead for the 20th District seat. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary, all but assuring him of being the next congressman from this heavily Democratic, Hispanic-majority district. At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, he introduced his brother Julián as keynote speaker.[11] In November 2012, Castro defeated Republican David Rosa 64%-34%.[14] becoming only the fifth person to represent this district since its creation in 1935.

In 2017, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News questioned Castro's decision not to enter the 2018 U.S. Senate race against the Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, a presidential candidate in 2016. Bruce Davidson predicted that Castro could have defeated the announced candidate, Beto O'Rourke, representative of Texas's 16th congressional district based in El Paso, for the Democratic senatorial nomination. "Castro is said to be ambitious, but will he ever have a better chance to move up than in the Trump-era against Ted Cruz?," Davidson asked. Davidson added that Texas' other senator, Republican John Cornyn of San Antonio, would have taken advantage of a similar opportunity to run. In 2002, Cornyn, the state's then one-term attorney general, filed to succeed retiring Republican Senator Phil Gramm, while two other Republican hopefuls, Henry Bonilla of Texas's 23rd congressional district and David Dewhurst, the land commissioner and later the lieutenant governor, vacillated and lost their chance to become a senator. Bonilla was defeated for House re-election after redistricting in 2006, and Dewhurst subsequently lost the 2012 Republican runoff election for the Senate to Ted Cruz.[15]

Tenure
Representative Castro preparing to deliver a keynote speech at LULAC.
Castro with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in August 2015

Castro was officially sworn into office on January 3, 2013 becoming a member of the 113th United States Congress. He was chosen as the president of the freshman class of Democrats in the 113th Congress.[16]

In the 114th Congress, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer named Castro a Chief Deputy Whip.[17] During the 2016 presidential election, Castro served as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton's campaign.[18] Castro was selected as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for the 116th Congress.[19]

Castro voted against a House resolution condemning the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which called Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories a "flagrant violation" of international law and a major obstacle to peace.[20]

On January 12, 2019, Castro introduced and endorsed his twin brother, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, at the launch rally of Julián's 2020 presidential campaign.

In February 2019, Castro authored House Joint Resolution 46[21] to overturn Trump's declaration of a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States, under which Trump said he would divert funds from other sources to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.[22] The bill passed the House by a vote of 245–182 on February 15, and the Senate by a vote of 59–41 on March 15.[23][24] Trump vetoed the Joint Resolution on March 15.[25]

In August 2019, Castro tweeted the names and employers of 44 San Antonio residents who had given the maximum allowable contribution to Trump's re-election campaign. He said it was "sad to see so many San Antonians" whose "contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as 'invaders'."[26] The information came from publicly available lists published by the Federal Election Commission. The tweet was denounced by Republicans, who said that such a "target list" invites harassment and could even encourage violence.[27]

In July 2020, following the primary defeat of House Foreign Affairs Committee chairperson Eliot Engel, Castro declared his candidacy for the chair. Gregory Meeks has also announced his candidacy and Brad Sherman, who defeated former chairperson Howard Berman in a 2012 primary, is expected to run as well.[28]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life
Representative Joaquin Castro (left) and his twin brother, then-San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro (right), at the LBJ Presidential Library.

Castro is the son of Jesse Guzman and Rosie Castro and the identical twin brother of Julián Castro, the former Mayor of San Antonio and the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Cabinet of President Barack Obama;[4] Joaquin is one minute younger than Julián, being born at 2:41AM and 2:40AM respectively.[33] In addition to his work in the Texas Legislature, Castro practiced law in San Antonio. He has also taught as a visiting professor of law at St. Mary's University and as an adjunct professor at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Castro sits on several boards of nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education, including: Achieving the Dream, the National College Advising Corps, St. Phillip's College President's Advisory Board, St. Mary's University Mission and Identity Taskforce, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials' (NALEO) Taskforce on Education.[6]

In early summer of 2013, Castro became engaged to his girlfriend, Anna Flores. The announcement was made by his twin brother, Julián, on his Facebook page.[34] The couple had a daughter in 2013[35][36] and a son in 2016.[37]

In 2019, Castro grew a beard so that people could distinguish him from his presidential candidate twin brother Julián Castro.[38]

See also

References
  1. "Vote Smart - The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  2. "Texas House of Representatives membership summary". Archived from the original on October 18, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  3. Merica, Dan (January 12, 2019). "Julián Castro officially announces 2020 presidential bid". CNN. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  4. Gillman, Todd J (July 25, 2014). "Julián Castro to take office Monday as Housing Secretary". Dallas Morning News.
  5. Castro, Julián (2018). Un Viaje Improbable. Little, Brown and Company. p. 32. ISBN 9780316252126.
  6. Representatives, Texas House of. "Texas House of Representatives". www.house.state.tx.us.
  7. "TRIBPEDIA: Julián Castro". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  8. "Our Campaigns - TX State House 125- D Primary Race - Mar 12, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  9. "Our Campaigns - TX State House 125 Race - Nov 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Garrett, Robert T. (September 4, 2012). "With his twin brother in the spotlight, Joaquin Castro prepares for prominent role of his own". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  12. "Texas Legislature Online - 82nd Legislature - Information for Rep. Joaquin Castro". www.legis.state.tx.us.
  13. Ramshaw, Emily (June 24, 2011). "Castro To Take On Doggett for New Congressional Seat — 2012 Congressional Election". Texas Tribune. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  14. "Our Campaigns - TX District 20 Race - Nov 06, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  15. Bruce Davidson, "Risk-averse Castro opts out of Senate run", San Antonio Express-News, May 14, 2017, F3.
  16. "Joaquin Castro Elected President of Democrat Freshmen of 113th Congress". Fox News. January 7, 2013.
  17. French, Lauren (March 9, 2015). "Joaquin Castro climbs higher in Democratic leadership". Politico. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  18. Shapiro, Ari (March 1, 2016). "Rep. Joaquin Castro On Hillary Clinton's Campaign After Super Tuesday". NPR. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  19. McPherson, Lindsey; McPherson, Lindsey (November 30, 2018). "Congressional Hispanic Caucus Selects Joaquin Castro As Next Chairman". Retrieved August 29, 2019 – via www.rollcall.com.
  20. "AAI Thanks 80 Representatives For Standing Against Illegal Israeli Settlements". Arab American Institute.
  21. "H.J.Res.46 - Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019". Congress.gov. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  22. "Joaquin Castro Files Legislation to Counter President Trump's National Emergency Declaration". Texas Monthly. February 22, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  23. "The Latest: House blocks Trump's emergency declaration". Washington Post.
  24. Cochrane, Emily; Thrush, Glenn (March 14, 2019). "Senate Rejects Trump's Border Emergency Declaration, Setting Up First Veto" – via NYTimes.com.
  25. "Trump issues first veto of his presidency, says resolution 'put countless Americans in danger'". CNN. March 15, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  26. Schouten, Fredreka (August 7, 2019). "Rep. Joaquin Castro tweets names, employers of Trump donors in San Antonio". CNN. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  27. Sheth, Sonam (August 8, 2019). "Joaquin Castro was called 'dangerous' by Republicans for tweeting the names of Trump donors, but Democrats say people should be able to follow the money". Business Insider. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  28. https://web.archive.org/web/20200722102313/https://thehill.com/policy/international/508387-castro-launches-bid-for-house-foreign-affairs-gavel. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. "HPSCI Minority Members - U.S. House of Representatives". intelligence.house.gov.
  30. "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  31. "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  32. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  33. "Not My Job: We Quiz The Secretary Of Urban Development On Urban Dictionary". NPR.org. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  34. "Mayor says Congressman Castro engaged".
  35. Source, The Reliable (December 15, 2013). "Love, etc.: Rep. Joaquin Castro and wife welcome a baby girl" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  36. Joaquin Castro [@JoaquinCastrotx] (December 15, 2013). "Anna & I proudly welcoming our first child Andrea Elena in #SanAntonio this a.m. Thank you to all the well wishers!" (Tweet) – via Twitter. /photo/1
  37. Joaquin Castro [@JoaquinCastrotx] (February 2, 2016). "Anna and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our son, Roman Victor Castro" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  38. Hayes, Christal; Cummings, William. "'I'm not running for president!': Rep. Joaquin Castro hopes beard saves him from being confused with twin". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
Art Reyna		 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 125th district
2003–2013		 Succeeded by
Justin Rodriguez
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Charlie Gonzalez		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 20th congressional district
2013–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Michelle Lujan Grisham		 Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
2019–present
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Matt Cartwright		 United States Representatives by seniority
198th		 Succeeded by
Doug Collins
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