Joaquin Castro

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, but on November 28, after Charlie Gonzalez of the neighboring 20th district announced his retirement after seven terms, Castro announced that he would run instead for the 20th district seat.

He was unopposed in the Democratic primary, all but assuring him of winning the general election in this heavily Democratic, Hispanic-majority district.

becoming only the fifth person to represent this district since its creation in 1935.

Joaquin Castro (born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who has represented Texas's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2013.

The district includes just over half of his native San Antonio.

He currently serves on the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Castro ran for Texas's 125th House district seat in 2002.

In the Democratic primary, he defeated incumbent Representative Arthur Reyna, 64% to 36%.

In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Nelson Balido, 60% to 40%.

He was 28 at the time of his election.

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 chances to become a senator.

From 2003 to 2013, Castro represented the 125th district in the Texas House of Representatives.

While in the state legislature, he 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.

In 2004, he was reelected unopposed.

After law school, the brothers both worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld before starting their own firm in 2005.

In 2006, he was reelected to a third term, defeating Balido, 58% to 38%.

Bonilla was defeated for House reelection after redistricting in 2006, and Dewhurst lost the 2012 Republican runoff Senate election to Cruz.

In 2008, he was reelected to a fourth term unopposed.

In 2010, he was reelected to a fifth term, defeating Libertarian Jeffrey Blunt, 78% to 22%.

In June 2011, Castro announced his candidacy for the newly drawn TX's 35th congressional district's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He was chosen as the president of the freshman class of Democrats in the 113th Congress.

In the 114th Congress, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer named Castro a Chief Deputy Whip.

He was selected as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for the 116th Congress.

At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, he introduced his brother Julián as keynote speaker.

In November, Castro defeated Republican nominee David Rosa 64%-34%.

Castro was sworn into office on January 3, 2013, becoming a member of the 113th United States Congress.

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 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 wrote.

He added that Texas's other senator, Republican John Cornyn, would have taken advantage of a similar opportunity to run.

During the 2016 presidential election, Castro served as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton's campaign.

In 2017, San Antonio Express-News columnist Bruce Davidson questioned Castro's decision not to enter the 2018 U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate.

Joaquin served as campaign chair for his identical twin brother, Julian Castro, during his 2020 presidential campaign.

Castro was born and raised in San Antonio and attended Thomas Jefferson High School.

He was born a minute after his twin brother Julian.

He has said 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 on San Antonio's west side, and his mother, Marie "Rosie" Castro, is a community activist.

Jessie and Rosie never married.

Castro's mother named him after Rodolfo Gonzales's poem I Am Joaquin.

He 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.