Julián Castro, the federal housing secretary under Barack Obama, is expected to announce his presidential bid on Saturday with an address in his home city of San Antonio, Texas, where he served for five years as mayor.
The 44-year-old, who rose to national prominence with an electrifying keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic convention, seems set to become the second high-profile Democrat to announce their candidacy for 2020 following Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren’s campaign launch at the end of last year.
Castro, whose grandmother came to the US from Mexico in the 1920s, would be vying to become the party’s first Hispanic-American nominee amid a field that could swell to more than 20 candidates. The Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard declared a bid on Friday.
In an interview with NBC News on Friday, Castro said: “Mine is an immigrant story. It’s an American dream story. It’s a testament that everybody counts in this country.” Read more