Joaquin Castro

Castro ran for Texas' 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]

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

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]

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]

On January 12th 2021, Castro was named an impeachment manager for the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. [29]

• Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence[30]
  • Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness
• Committee on Foreign Affairs (Vice Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
  • Western Hemisphere Subcommittee

• New Democrat Coalition[31]
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus[32]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus[33]