A Texas politician that many political observers speculated could try to make a quick move toward higher office has decided to recommit the city he now runs.
After gaining national attention delivering the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention last year, Julián Castro, currently mayor of San Antonio, was expected to begin his national ascent by running for governor of Texas next year.
It’s quite a challenge, given that no Democrat has own statewide office in Texas since the 1990s.
Perhaps that’s why Castro decided to pass up on going for governor now, opting instead to seek re-election as mayor of San Antonio, the country’s seventh-largest city.
“I’ve said all along that if the voters will have me, I will be mayor of San Antonio until 2017,” Castro told Fox News Latino in a statement. “I’m announcing my re-election as Mayor on Feb. 2.”
It’s actually an astute move, one political expert said.
“A smart politician is always relatively conservative in regards to taking that ambition to the next level,” said Walter Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“It’s quite possible that he’s decided that … [he] is not ready for the gubernatorial race,” Wilson said.
Not yet, anyway — don’t count Castro out, Wilson said.
It’s could all be part of common modern political strategy — say you’re not running while you’re still quietly mounting a campaign.
“The fact is that saying he won’t run for governor is very much in line with running for governor,” Wilson said. “He is as well positioned as any Democrat has been to run for governor of Texas.”
His selection by President Obama to serve as the top speaker at last year’s party convention confirmed Castro’s status as official Democratic rising star. In fact, another line of thought has Castro possibly jumping directly to the national spotlight by joining the Obama administration.
“His keynote speech in ways says that there are people in the Democratic Party that are ready to support and invest in him,” Wilson said.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/01/18/julian-castro-not-running-for-governor-texas/#ixzz2INeAYfB8