Julian Castro
Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro will launch a political action committee on Tuesday that aims to support Democratic Party efforts to take control of the U.S. House and groom younger candidates.
Castro’s PAC, Opportunity First, will have three aims: gaining Democratic control of the House, making headway in state legislatures ahead of the 2021 round of redistricting and electing younger leaders to local office.
To do this, the PAC will have an arm that is more traditional in focus, boosting the campaigns of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. The other side will support local, non-federal candidates.
Castro told The Texas Tribune in a Monday interview that his focus will be on “young and progressive” talent, and his aim is to play in county commissioner, mayoral and other local races to cultivate the Democratic bench.
“We’re going to go out there and find great young talent,” he said.
Another goal is to put candidates in state legislative offices in states where Democrats could make gains in redistricting next decade.
Castro’s PAC is involved in one race in Texas so far, backing Colin Allred in CD32. I’m way more interested in the legislative races they choose to play in. As I’ve said before, I think PACs like this need to be aggressive, and expansive, in who they support. Don’t just aim for the top-line races, go for the ones that could be in play if the environment keeps getting better, too. Support the candidates in the tougher districts who embody our values and are challenging the most egregious offenders on their side. I for one will have a lot more respect for any group that does this. The Chron has more.