Julian Castro — The Next Herbert Hoover?
This is the third piece in my series on the 2020 election.
I had originally planned to write a separate piece about Secretary Castro a la “Pete Buttigieg — America’s Mayor?” before I wrote about him in “7 Democratic party hopefuls who may have other ambitions,” but the inspiration for that piece hit and I lost all sense of timing and keeping a publishing schedule.
Fortunately, there remains a lot to say about the former HUD Secretary from Texas.
Prior to serving as the youngest member of President Obama’s Cabinet, Castro served first as a member of the San Antonio City Council from 2001–2005 before serving as Mayor of San Antonia from 2009–2014. He seems to be more interested in the executive side of things, whereas his brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro served first as a member of the Texas House of Representatives and now as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Castro was reportedly on Hillary Clinton’s VP short list in 2016.
Despite his experience, Secretary Castro hasn’t had much success as of yet breaking through in the polls. In Iowa and New Hampshire, he’s at 1%, nationally he fluctuates between 1–2%, and in South Carolina he fluctuates between 0–1%.
However, the horse race isn’t of much interest at this juncture. With a little over two months until the first debate, and ten months until the Iowa Caucuses, and with two forums happening in the next seven days, Secretary Castro has ample time and opportunity to make his case.
What I hope will interest readers here will be a brief look into Secretary Castro’s record.
Castro’s record as HUD Secretary is a mixed bag. On one hand, his HUD Department was known for issuing regulation that required homeless shelters receiving federal funding to house transgender people based on their gender identity.
This was a bittersweet part of Obama Administration policy making, the tendency to implement policy through Cabinet-level Departments instead of through Congress. Unlike Trump’s Department of Education, Trump’s HUD hasn’t seemed to roll back transgender protections. However, how well these protections are being enforced remains to be seen.
Another issue of importance, and one that may have effected Castro’s VP chances in 2016, included HUD’s approach to mortgage sales during his tenure. Originally, Presente.org had petitioned Castro to follow through on a promise to, “help homeowners avoid foreclosure by selling more overdue mortgage loans to nonprofit community organizations rather than Wall Street banks,” (Presente.org).
Presente later declared victory on that petition, “While much remains to be done, this is an important victory for Latinx homeowners and others impacted by the predatory practices of big Wall Street banks and it wouldn’t have happened without fierce and courageous advocacy — including from thousands of Presente.org members — that challenged and held accountable a prominent Latino leader,” Matt Nelson, Managing Director of Presente.org.
In the coming months Castro will likely have to defend his time as mayor, however, for those willing to take the time, his story is a fascinating one.
As with most campaign sites at this stage of a campaign, Castro’s is lacking on policy, as he’s trying to build the version of himself he wants the country to meet.
Among the claimed accomplishments (of which there are none for his time on the San Antonio City Council or as mayor of San Antonio), the website states, “As the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, I worked to expand the promise of opportunity to Americans all over the nation. Together, my team and I made housing more accessible, lessened homelessness among our nation’s veterans and even offered internet access to families in public housing. We set out to help families get back on their feet and achieve more than they thought possible.”
Castro, who’s lagging behind in early primary states, plans to visit all 50 states during the primary.
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