Julian Castro—the former San Antonio mayor who was President Barack Obama’s Housing and Urban Development secretary—may no longer be interested in running for office in Texas because he is eyeing a White House run in 2020, according to the Abilene Reporter-News.
The paper reported on Saturday that though Castro is one of “the few bright lights among Texas Democrats, he is “signaling that he might be giving up on ever running for office in his native state.”
Earlier this month, Castro created his “Opportunity First” political action committee, which, as the paper notes, led many to believe he is “positioning himself for a run for the White House in 2020.”
Breitbart News has explained why Castro could be a formidable frontrunner should he decide to run for president:
Castro, who is reportedly working on a memoir that will tell “his family’s story and put that in the context of the American dream of the Latino community in the Southwest,” keynoted the 2012 Democratic National Convention and eviscerated Mitt Romney, showing he has the ability cut good “promos,” which are becoming more important for presidential candidates.
The Stanford graduate who went to Harvard for law school may appeal to urbane coastal liberals in addition to left-wing “salad bowl” activists much like Barack Obama did.
Like Obama at the 2006 Steak Fry in Iowa, Castro was very well received by Iowa Democrats when he attended then-Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) annual event in 2013 with then-Vice President Joe Biden.
If Castro can win one of the first three primary states or finish in the top three in each state to keep himself in the game, he could emerge as the frontrunner as the Democratic primary contests after South Carolina head into areas where Castro will likely have demographic advantages on his side.