Former San Antonio Mayor and Obama Administration HUD Secretary Julian Castro today took the first steps toward a 2020 Presidential run, creating an 'exploratory committee' to start raising campaign cash, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"I'm taking a lesson from my mother," Castro said in a video posted to social media. "If we want to see a change in this country, we don't wait, we work. We make change happen."
Castro says he will announce on January 12, one month from today, whether he will formally enter the crowded 2020 race.
He didn't mention President Trump by name, but made it clear his campaign will be focused on opposition to Trump and his policies
."Americans are ready to climb out of this darkness," he said. "We are ready to keep our promises."He said it is a huge step to take.
"I never expected when I was growing up on the west side of San Antonio that I would ever be making an announcement like this," he said. "My name is Julian Castro, and I know the promise of America."
A major hurdle that Castro will have to face is enlisting Texas Democrats who have come down with a serious case of 'Beto Fever' over the past several months, and have been encouraging El Paso Congressman Beto O'Rourke to run. In his unsuccessful campaign against Ted Cruz, O'Rourke courted many of the same progressive and Latino Democrats that Castro will need for his campaign.
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