• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
    • Editorial Independence Policy
    • Corrections & Clarifications
  • Who we are
  • About us

San Antonio Heron

Telling the complete downtown story

  • Development
  • Housing
  • Neighborhoods
  • Food & Drink

Julián Castro makes presidential run official at Plaza Guadalupe

January 12, 2019 By Ben Olivo 2 Comments

FacebookTweetPrintEmail
Julián Castro speaks during his announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Julián Castro announces his run at the presidency of the United States Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe on the near West Side. Photo: Ben Olivo | Heron Nathan Guerrero, 3, and Sophia Guerrero, 6, listen to former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as he announces his run for president in the 2020 election Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Grace Uzomba, No. 2 judge for the Bexar County Court of Law, applauds Julián Castro Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Attendees hold signs during Julián Castro’s announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Attendees wait for a special announcement from Julián Castro to begin Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Lizzett Cima holds Hailey Cima, 2, by the hand before Julián Castro makes his special announcement Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor San Antonio residents Daritza Coronel and Michelle Castillo, 8, wait for the special announcement from Julián Castro to begin Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Attendees stand for The Star-Spangled Banner before Julián Castro speaks Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Rep. Joaquín Castro (D- San Antonio), speaks to the crowd Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Rosie Castro introduces her son Julián Castro Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Julián Castro announces his candidacy in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Julián Castro speaks during his announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Julián Castro speaks during his announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Julián Castro speaks during his announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Supporters cheer behind Julián Castro Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe. Julián Castro speaks during his announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor Julián Castro announces his run at the presidency of the United States Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe on the near West Side. Photo: Ben Olivo | Heron Julián Castro announces his run at the presidency of the United States Saturday morning at Plaza Guadalupe on the near West Side. Photo: Ben Olivo | Heron Jacinta Mack (from left), Todd Heeg, Rachell Tucker and Marlon Davis protest former HUD Secretary and Mayor Julián Castro's housing policies they say spurred gentrification in San Antonio and throughout the U.S. Photo: Ben Olivo | Heron Supporters of Julián Castro wait to enter Plaza Guadalupe Saturday morning when Castro announced he's running for president of the United States. Photo: Ben Olivo | Heron The Castros during Julián Castro’s announcement to run in the 2020 presidential election Jan. 12 at Plaza Guadalupe. Photo: V. Finster | Heron contributor

For most of Saturday morning, the line to enter Guadalupe Plaza, where former Mayor Julián Castro officially launched his campaign to become president of the United States, encircled the West Side venue from Guadalupe to South Brazos to El Paso streets.

Even after everybody who wanted in got in, some passerby from this community opted to watch the spectacle from outside the hurricane fencing. All of the plaza was packed with Castro supporters and media from around the country.

“Today this community represents America’s future—diverse, fast-growing, optimistic—a place where people of different backgrounds have come together to create something truly special,” Castro told the enthusiastic crowd of several hundred.

On the risers behind Castro were his family, such as his mom Rosie and his brother Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio), and other local dignitaries such as Mayor Ron Nirenberg, former Councilwoman Maria Berriozabal, among others.

Supporters of all ages held up signs that were fabricated by the Castro campaign, and others that were homemade. He told the crowd that he and his family rode the No. 68 bus to the event, which is the same route he and his brother took to get from their Jefferson High School neighborhood home to Tafolla Middle School, three blocks from Plaza Guadalupe.

He laid out his platform, which touched on the need for what he called a better healthcare system, a reformed justice system, immigration and border security, and housing system. But he lead this part of the speech by touting Pre-K 4 SA.

“Here in San Antonio, I made Pre-K 4 SA happen,” President Barak Obama’s former housing secretary said. “As president, we’ll make Pre-K 4 the U.S.A. happen. Universal prekindergarten for all children whose parents want it, so that all of our nation’s students can get a strong start. And we won’t stop there.”

Castro, who later attended Jefferson High School in the San Antonio Independent School District, told the history of his family’s West Side roots. Castro was baptized at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church behind the plaza. His grandmother, Victoria, immigrated to the West Side from Mexico in 1922 when she was 7, and worked as a maid, cook and babysitter as a single mother.

“Just a couple days ago, President Trump visited McAllen, Texas, just south of here, after claiming that we’re facing an ‘invasion’ at our border,” Castro said. “He called it a national security crisis. Well, there is a crisis today—it’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation.”

As Daritza Coronel waited for Castro’s speech to begin, she explained why she decided to support the former mayor in person.

“Right now our people are under attack,” Coronel said. “We need someone who can lead and represent us. Julián Castro 2020 all the way.”

Outside the plaza, a small group of protestors representing groups such as the newly formed Tenants Union of San Antonio (TUSA) and Our Revolution San Antonio (ORSA) were protesting Castro’s housing policies, as the former San Antonio mayor and secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, they say made developers and the institution of Wall Street richer, while leaving renters and public housing residents behind.

“When we talk about this conversation of housing as it pertains to economic stability, tenants are definitely underrepresented in that,” said Marlon Davis of TUSA. “And this trend was evident in Castro’s administration, but also Nirenberg’s task force.”

Freelancer V. Finster contributed to this report.

Contact Ben Olivo: 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter

FacebookTweetPrintEmail

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Politics, West Side

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. BestKrystyna says

    July 22, 2019 at 8:41 pm

    I see you don’t monetize saheron.com, don’t waste your traffic, you can earn extra cash every
    month with new monetization method. This is the best adsense alternative for any type of website (they approve all sites), for more details simply search in gooogle: murgrabia’s tools

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

Primary Sidebar

Share

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Deep Dives

How municipal bonds work, and a brief history of them in San Antonio

Olivo: How McKee-Rodriguez’s support for a luxury housing project helps shape the Decade of Downtown

The Lofts at River North are under construction at Broadway and Jones Avenue in July.

Analysis: It’s time to call BS on ‘workforce housing’

Copyright © 2023 San Antonio Heron · Site maintained by hmt3design.com

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!