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One-on-one with Julián Castro

The former SA mayor shares his message for San Antonio, milestones from the campaign and what's next for him.

SAN ANTONIO — Former San Antonio Mayor and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro returned home to San Antonio after announcing the suspension of his presidential campaign. 

"This is the end of one chapter but no matter what comes next I’m always going to find a way to participate in making this country a better place and part of that means doing what I can to support the Democratic nominee to defeat Donald Trump in November of 2020," Castro said.

He shared the impact his hometown had on his candidacy — and the hopes he has for the future.

"I hope people would say that having grown up here in San Antonio I took with me an appreciation for people of different backgrounds and also a willingness to listen and to learn," Castro said. 

"The fact that I came up through local government here which means knocking on people’s doors and talking to them at the park or grocery store or whatever it is, that’s what I did as a candidate," Castro said. 

During his campaign, Castro petitioned for police reform, the strengthening of indigenous rights and decriminalizing crossing the border. He visited soup kitchens and homeless encampments, drawing attention to issues of poverty and marginalization.

"I listened to people, went to places a lot of other people won’t go to, whether it was a storm drainage tunnel people are living because they’re homeless or a jail in Washington DC to hear about how we can reform our criminal justice system," Castro said.

"My campaign was based on listening to the people that are actually experiencing the problems and challenges that as politicians we often talk about but don’t always listen to the people going through them. I learned that here, coming up through local government in San Antonio," Castro said.

"I have a vision for an America where everyone counts and I determined that if I was going to run for president I would challenge America to be the America I know we can be and to include everyone," Castro said. "Including a lot of communities who often aren’t forefront in the minds of people like indigenous communities, foster kids, people with disabilities- so we focused our campaign, I think in a unique way- around people who are hurting, at the margins, people who are forgotten. Maybe sometimes that's not the most politically advantageous thing to do- but I thought it was the right thing to do."

Sec. Castro credits his upbringing and service in San Antonio for shaping his future.

"I never would have gotten into politics if it hadn’t been for this city," Castro said. "I went into politics after I went away from San Antonio and got a chip on my shoulder about our community- that not enough people got to the kind of places like Stanford and Harvard that my brother and I had been able to go to. I wanted to come back and improve this community so more people could have opportunity. I take this community with me no matter where I go. I’m proud to live here and my family and I have always called it home. I hope my kids call it home for a long time too. And no matter what happens in the years to come- this is always going to be home to me."

RELATED: Julián Castro drops out of presidential race

RELATED: Julián Castro ends presidential campaign

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