Julian Castro
Bio | Julian Castro is an American Politician and is a member of the Democratic Party. He was the youngest member to serve in President Obama’s Cabinet as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. |
Status and Position | Former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development of Texas |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Democrat, Texas |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Presidential Election United States | United States | Yes | Dropped Out | N/A |
Campaign Financing | Castro is not accepting campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry, PACs, or federal lobbyists. However, he has not made reforming campaign finance laws a focus of his campaign. |
Voting Rights | Castro is an advocate for voting rights reform, but has not made it a focus of his campaign and has not released any plans to expand voting rights protections. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | For | Would aim to achieve a system of universal healthcare. Castro supports proposals for universal healthcare, and has expressed interest in the Medicare-for-All plan. |
| Socialized Healthcare | For | Has spoken in defense of the ACA in the face of efforts to dismantle it. |
| Private Healthcare | For | Would not abolish private insurance. |
| LGBT Rights | For | Is an advocate for LGBT rights. Believes marriage equality is an essential right. Would enact several protections for LGBT individuals, such as passing the Equality Act and banning conversion therapy. |
| Taxes | For | Supports several measures that would raise taxes. Supports raising the marginal tax rate and has suggested a higher corporate tax rate. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Against | Supports progressive tax rates. Supports raising the marginal tax rate and has suggested a higher corporate tax rate. |
| Abortion | For | Sees abortion access as an essential freedom, and would work to protect abortion access if elected. Castro is an advocate for reproductive rights, and is notably the only candidate who has explicitly included the transgender community in his discussion of reproductive rights policy. He believes abortion access is a constitutional rights, and thus would be sure to include abortion access in any of his healthcare plans. If elected, he would select an entirely pro-choice cabinet. |
| Gun Control | For | If elected, would immediately begin the process of enacting several gun control bills. Castro is a strong advocate for gun control and has released his own detailed plan to combat gun violence. If elected, he would immediately use executive action to require universal background checks, ban the importation of assault weapons, and prohibit gun sales to individuals who have warrants out for their arrest. He would then seek to pass a series of firearm reform bills through Congress. These bills would prohibit those charged with domestic violence, hate crimes, or stalking from being able to purchase firearms, increase oversight on gun manufacturers and dealers, ban assault weapons and implement a buyback program for them, and require a waiting period of 7 days before purchasing a gun. Castro would also implement a federal gun licensing program that would include a mandatory firearm safety course. This license would also be a prerequisite to purchase any form of ammunition. Castro’s plan also includes increasing access to mental health care to reduce suicide rates. |
| Assisted Suicide | For | Believes it should be allowed after psychological exam. Castro is a strong advocate for gun control and has released his own detailed plan to combat gun violence. If elected, he would immediately use executive action to require universal background checks, ban the importation of assault weapons, and prohibit gun sales to individuals who have warrants out for their arrest. He would then seek to pass a series of firearm reform bills through Congress. These bills would prohibit those charged with domestic violence, hate crimes, or stalking from being able to purchase firearms, increase oversight on gun manufacturers and dealers, ban assault weapons and implement a buyback program for them, and require a waiting period of 7 days before purchasing a gun. Castro would also implement a federal gun licensing program that would include a mandatory firearm safety course. This license would also be a prerequisite to purchase any form of ammunition. Castro’s plan also includes increasing access to mental health care to reduce suicide rates. |
| Government Interference | For | Has expressed support for forms of government regulation, including environmental. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | Believes Planned Parenthood provides essential healthcare services for women. |
| Welfare | For | Supports expansions of programs to provide affordable housing. Castro is a supporter of welfare programs, and has been especially supportive of affordable housing programs. He would seek to expand the housing choice voucher program and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. He would also support expanding the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit programs. |
| Welfare | Unknown | Has not made any public statements on the issue. |
| Death Penalty | Against | Would abolish the death penalty. Does not believe that capital punishment contributes productively to the justice system, and would seek to see it abolished. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | Would aim to decrease the US prison population in half, and is supportive of a number of criminal justice reform measures including reducing mandatory minimums. |
| Military Spending | Unknown | Has not specifically outlined what military spending would look like under his Administration |
| War on Terrorism | Against | Believes the conflict should end, would also pursue negotiations with Taliban to ensure lasting peace in Afghanistan. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | For | Has spoken out against 'America First' foreign policy strategies. Castro has been extremely critical of Trump’s America First foreign policy strategy and has said that one of his first foreign policy priorities would be recommitting to global allies and institutions. Other than that, he has not been clear in outlining a foreign policy strategy. |
| United Nations power | For | Has spoken at the UN. |
| Nationalism | Against | Has criticized Trump's nationalist tactics. |
| Free Markets | Unknown | Has not made a public statement. N/A |
| Brexit | Unknown | Has not been vocal on the issue. |
| Affirmative Action | For | Has spoken in favor of affirmative action, and has said that affirmative action gave him the opportunity to pursue a prestigious education. |
| Government Spending | For | Supports increasing government spending on social programs. |
| Charter Schools | Nuance | Has said he is not necessarily against charter schools, but that he has some concerns about them in the status quo. |
| Common Core | Against | Believes uniform standards are damaging to students. Castro opposes Common Core standards and does not see them as being helpful for students. |
| Clean Energy | For | Believes the US should increase use of sustainable energy sources. Castro supports the Green New Deal and has said that he would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. |
| Religious Freedom | For | Does not believe that religious freedom includes the right to discriminate. Castro is a supporter of religious freedom, but does not believe that it can be used to justify discrimination. He has voiced these concerns primarily in the realm of discrimination against the LGBT community. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | Believes there should be separation between church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | For | Is a vocal supporter for reparations. |
| Border Control | Against | Proposed a plan that would break up ICE. Castro opposes many of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies. As president, he would immediately cease all construction on the border wall and instruct CBP to focus its efforts on preventing trafficking and smuggling. He supports breaking up ICE. |
| Passenger Profiling | Against | Has made opposition to racial bias in policing a cornerstone of his campaign. |
| DACA | For | Would grant citizenship to DREAMers. |
| Sanctuary Cities | For | Believes that sanctuary cities should be protected. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | For | Castro has advocated to legalize marijuana and expunge the records of those charged with marijuana-related offenses. |