Former Obama administration cabinet secretary Julian Castro endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for president four days after he dropped out of the 2020 race.
“Today I’m proud to endorse @ewarren for president. Elizabeth and I share a vision of America where everyone counts. An America where people—not the wealthy or well-connected—are put first. I’m proud to join her in the fight for big, structural change,” Castro, 45, said in a statement.
Castro released a video celebrating his grandmother and mother, a single mom to Castro and his twin brother, saying: “My story wouldn’t be possible without the strong women who came before me.”
“There’s one candidate I see who will make sure that no matter where you live in America or where you family came from in the world—you have a path to opportunity,” he said.
Castro met with Warren, a meeting documented in the video. Castro told her that he sees his vision in her campaign.
“The thing I hear the most from people in the selfie lines is hope,” Warren, 70, told Castro. “Because we know what’s broken, we know how to fix it, we’re building a movement to get it done.”
“It takes a great president, it also takes the people behind the president,” Castro responded.
Castro ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Jan. 2. He struggled to meet thresholds to make the debate stage in recent months, missing the December debate. He was not expected to qualify for the series of debates in early voting states that start in mid-January.
Castro was mayor of San Antonio, Texas, before becoming the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the later years of the Obama administration. He joined the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2017 after leaving that position.
“I’m so proud of the campaign that we’ve run together. We’ve shaped the conversation on so many important issues in this race, stood up for the most vulnerable people, and given a voice to those who are often forgotten,” Castro said when he announced the end of his campaign.
“But with only a month until the Iowa caucuses, and given the circumstances of this campaign season, I’ve determined that it simply isn’t our time. So today it’s with a heavy heart and with profound gratitude that I will suspend my campaign for president.”
