(Community Matters)
Billy Wilkinson & John Kerrigan are hosting an LGBT fundraiser for Joaquin Castro’s run for Congress on Wed., Nov 16. Joaquin is a close, personal friend and an important Texas leader.
When the Texas legislature gerrymandered new districts, the 35th Congressional District was drawn connecting San Antonio & Austin as a new Hispanic district (63-65% Hispanic). Joaquin Castro, currently a state representative, immediately announced his intention to run in the district. Because it includes a portion of what was previously Lloyd Doggett’s 25th Congressional District and Lloyd declared his intention to leave CD-25 and run in the new district, this pitted Joaquin against Lloyd. All that aside, the current court case is likely to result in redrawn districts – hopefully with Lloyd’s 25th district given more Ds, so a safer seat and CD-35 still stretching into Travis County so Joaquin will represent the evolving super metropolitan area of Austin – San Antonio.
Why Joaquin? He represents the future of a Democratic Texas. He and his twin brother represent how we will turn Texas blue, how we will win full equality for LGBT Americans. Joaquin and Mayor Julian Castro (the mayor of San Antonio) were raised in San Antonio’s barrio by a single mom and an immigrant grandmother. They both earned scholarships to Stanford University for their undergraduate education, then scholarships to Harvard Law School. I’ve spent a lot of time with each of them – LGBT equality is a given. Like most people of their generation (they just turned 37), denying rights to someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity doesn’t even compute.
During this race, Joaquin very early and strongly declared his support for full equality for LGBT Americans, including marriage equality.
Joaquin’s unequivocal support for LGBT equality and the competition for Travis County support in the Congressional race has helped persuade Lloyd to come around. He has since signed on as a co-sponsor of legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and at a recent University Democrats meeting, he announced his support for same sex marriage.
During the last quarter, the first fundraising quarter of this race, Joaquin outraised Lloyd Doggett, even excluding the $40k Joaquin contributed to seed fund the campaign. In fact, Joaquin raised more money than almost any other nonincumbent in the country – a very strong start for an important candidate.
Assuming the court yields the best decision (and we have Democratic viable seats in 25 and 35), we could have two D representatives for Travis County.
Another reason Steven and I so enthusiastically support Joaquin is his vision for the super metropolitan area of San Antonio & Austin. He’s right, our communities are very complimentary. San Antonio enjoys a much lower cost and yet high standard of living – connected through rail, it could offer high quality housing options for middle class families working in Austin. And, together we’re more competitive as a regional economic center for many industries including clean energy, bio & life sciences, and automotive technology.
Joaquin Castro is the real deal. His style is as a servant leader. He does not plan to be a lifelong politician, though he and his brother are committed to giving back big, helping turn around this state. Mayor Julian Castro is a favored mayor of President Obama and has agreed to help in the reelection. We need a young, visionary Texans – a new generation of elected leaders – in Congress representing our state and community. In Joaquin we’ll have a fierce advocate for LGBT equality as well as a strong leader with a track record of getting things done, even in a Republican dominated Texas House.
Please join Billy & John, Chris Long, Anne Wynne & Fred, Andy & Brian, Camile & Siri, Steven and me on Wednesday, Nov 16 to meet and support Joaquin Castro. For more information contact me or Ann Pederson at anne@taylorcollective.com
Community Matters 