It Sure Looks Like Julian Castro Plans to Run for President in 2020

By  Yara Simón

Julian Castro, secretary of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), center, gestures to employees as he and U.S President Barack Obama arrive to speak at the Department of Housing and Urban Development on July 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Castro, the former San Antonio, Texas mayor, was sworn in this week and will begin his duties on Monday, Aug. 4. Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images

Julian Castro, secretary of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), center, gestures to employees as he and U.S President Barack Obama arrive to speak at the Department of Housing and Urban Development on July 31, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Castro, the former San Antonio, Texas mayor, was sworn in this week and will begin his duties on Monday, Aug. 4. Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images

By January 12, we’ll know if Julián Castro intends to run for president in 2020. But as of right now, everything seems to show a presidential campaign in his future.

Castro – once a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 bid – announced today that he’s forming a presidential exploratory committee, which helps determine whether someone should run for office. But even before he made this announcement, the politician has made his interest in running clear. Almost a year ago, he told NBC News, “I have every interest in running. Part of the process of figuring out whether I’m going to run is going to listen to folks and feel the temperature of voters.”

Currently, Castro’s name doesn’t pop up as a possible choice for 2020. (So far, the media has discussed Beto O’Rourke, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren as potential candidates.) But that doesn’t bother the San Antonio-born politician. “It doesn’t bother me that in December of 2018 I’m not right up at the top of the list,” Castro said, according to the Associated Press. “If I decide to run, it would be because I believe I have a compelling message and I’m going to work hard and get to the voters and I believe I can be successful.”

He also feels that at a time when the Trump Administration has maligned Latinos, it’s important to have one of our voices on the national stage in 2020. “I’m also very mindful, especially now for the Latino community, that there’s a particular meaning to my candidacy,” he said. “We can’t go through the 2020 cycle with nobody on that stage because of what’s happened over the last couple of years.”