Julián Castro Exits, and Democrats' Diversity Diminishes Again

The field of Democratic presidential candidates once hailed as a representation of the party’s diversity became slightly whiter Thursday as former Housing Secretary Julián Castro announced he was ending his campaign for the White House.

In a message to his supporters sent via Twitter, the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, acknowledged the reality that his campaign was not gaining traction, despite a compelling personal story and experience at the local and federal level.

“It’s with profound gratitude to all of our supporters that I suspend my campaign for president today.  I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished together. I’m going to keep fighting for an America where everyone counts — I hope you’ll join me in that fight,” Castro tweeted.

When Castro entered the race in January 2019, many expected him to do well with the growing number of Latino voters in California and elsewhere, but that never happened.

In a Berkeley IGS poll released in December, Castro was the first choice of 1% of likely Democratic primary voters in California. Sen. Bernie Sanders was the first choice of 32% of Latinos, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden with 19%. Castro also lagged far behind most other candidates in fundraising.

Jaime Regalado, political science professor emeritus at Cal State University, Los Angeles, said he was “sad, but not surprised” to hear that Castro was abandoning his campaign.

“It was difficult, even though he was everywhere. I mean, he was in California a lot. Obviously, this was a state that he had hoped would raise his profile, but he is not going to be around for that,” Regalado said.

Regalado said it’s looking increasingly like this is not the year for a candidate of color to emerge with the nomination.

“I think it tells us a lot that the Democratic field in the early primaries was kind of a rainbow, in a sense,” he said. “But that came down to be a contest of pretty dramatic people at the top of the ticket.”

Angela Glover Blackwell, founder in residence of PolicyLink in Oakland, said the lack of support by voters of color for candidates of color may have to do with the stakes in the election.

“A lot of what’s happening with people of color is they are feeling that they are the most vulnerable in terms of the attacks that are coming right now,” Blackwell said, referring to policies and rhetoric from the Trump Administration.

“They want to make sure whoever the Democrats put in is going to get them out of this fix. So they are looking for somebody with name recognition. They’re looking for somebody who they think is going to win.”

In other words, candidates like Sen. Kamala Harris or Julián Castro might seem too risky in their ability to beat President Trump.

Most of the candidates still in the race tweeted encouraging words and thanks to Castro for what he brought to the debate.

In a tweet, Sen. Amy Klobuchar noted his “bold vision of justice and equality” while Sen. Cory Booker, one of the few candidates of color still in the race, told Castro “your voice and campaign were invaluable in sticking up for underrepresented communities and pushing the field forward.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who was the target of a clumsy attack by Castro aimed at Biden’s age and mental acuity during a debate in September, offered praise.

“He led his historic campaign with grace and heart and used his platform to lift the voices of others,” Biden tweeted.

Castro is out for now, but he could re-emerge as a vice presidential candidate depending on who the nominee is. It’s hard to imagine the Democratic ticket without some kind of diversity.