Julian Castro

Julián Castro ( born September 16, 1974 in San Antonio, Texas ) is an American politician and current mayor of San Antonio in Texas. He studied at Stanford University and Harvard Law School. In 2012 he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is considered a great hope for the future of the Democrats.

Life

Castro was born on September 16, 1974 in San Antonio, the son of Mary "Rosie" Castro and Jessie Guzman. He is the twin brother of the politician Joaquín Castro.

His mother was a political activist who helped to establish the Chicano Raza Unida Party La. She ran unsuccessfully in 1971 for the City Council in San Antonio. Maria Castro was known as a firebrand and Julian Castro later said of her: " My mother is probably the strongest reason that my brother and I are in the public service. When we grew up, they took us to rallies and meetings with, for the 8 - are pretty boring or 10 -year-old " Julian 's father was in the 1970s, a community activist and retired math teacher -, 9. . His parents, who were never married, divorced when he was eight years old. Julian Castro grew up on the west side of San Antonio. The roots of his family in San Antonio dates back to the year 1920 when his grandmother, Victoria Castro, at the age of six years came as an orphan from Mexico.

Castro was extremely enthusiastic sports in his youth. So he collected sports cards and played even American football and basketball and later from high school tennis. He got out of Trinity University, an NCAA Division III school to play tennis the offer. He skipped the second grade and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School 1992. 1996 he graduated from Stanford University, where he majored in political science and media studies subjects. He is part of the " Sponsors for Educational Opportunity ( SEO) " class of 1995. Castro said that he during his time at Stanford, where he and his brother stood as candidates for the first time in elections and seats in the student won the Senate, began a admission thinking in politics. Castro told the New York Times: " Joaquín and I have been admitted to Stanford because of positive discrimination. I had a score of 1200 points in the SAT, which was lower than the median of the enrolled students. But I have beaten me well in college and later to law school. My brother as well. I am a strong supporter of positive discrimination, as I have seen in my career saying that it works. "In 1997, Castro began his studies at Harvard University, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2000. His brother graduated equally to both schools.

City ​​council

Castro was elected in 2001 with 61 % of the vote in the City Council of San Antonio and sat down in the election against five competitors and a former mayor. He was the youngest councilor in the history of San Antonio. Castro represented the 7th District, a district in the west of the city with 150,000 inhabitants. 70 % of the population in this district were Hispanics and the district -based a large number of retirees. In 2005, Castro first ran for the office of mayor of San Antonio. He was seen as the most promising candidate. His opponents included the former judge Phil Hardberger and conservative city council Carroll Schubert. In the first ballot in May 2005 Castro scored, although the majority, but had to in the second round in June 2005, the narrowest of margins (51.5% to 48.5%) Phil Hardberger beaten.

Mayor

On 5 November 2008 Castro announced that he would run again for the office of mayor. He won the election on May 9, 2009, 56.23 % of the vote. His strongest opponent was Trish DeBerry - Mejia. In 2011, Castro was re-elected with over 82 % of the vote and left four opposition candidates behind.

Keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention 2012

July 31, 2012 it was announced that Castro was selected to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. He gave the speech on September 4, 2012.

Private life

Castro is married to Erica Lira Castro since 2007. Together they have a daughter.