As the Democratic Party kicks off its presidential convention tonight, one prominent housing policy figure is not entirely pleased that he will not be in the central spotlight.
According to a Washington Post report, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro was rueful that he was passed over by Hillary Clinton when she chose Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate. Castro broke precedent when he endorsed Clinton during the primaries—a highly unusual move for an incumbent cabinet secretary—and was later found in violation of the Hatch Act when he talked up Clinton’s values while denigrating Donald Trump during a Yahoo! News interview.
“It’s disappointing, of course,” Castro said. “But it’s also easy to put into perspective. When I was 30-years-old, I lost a very close mayor’s race. At the time, I was completely disappointed and crushed. But a few years later, I came back and I became mayor of San Antonio and it actually worked out for the better.”
Castro and two other prominent housing policy leaders in Washington—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray—were also cited as potential running mates for Clinton (Warren is scheduled to deliver the Democratic National Convention’s keynote address Monday evening). But the Washington Post cited an anonymous source that claimed Clinton’s choice of Kaine was primarily rooted in his work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“She said that in the last year, what had happened in San Bernardino and Orlando, what had happened overseas, had influence how she was thinking about this election—that they were heading in the direction of taking someone with national security and foreign policy experience,” said the unnamed person.
As for Castro, he remained confidence that the future will see a Hispanic individual running for the White House.
“In the years to come there will be a Latino or Latina president,” he said. “I believe that’s going to happen in due time. I hope to be alive to see it and I’m very confident that my kids will.”
