Julian Castro Quotes

My dad was a city councilman and a county commissioner, so I grew up involved and engaged in the political process.

My father was in Congress when I was born. He was mayor my whole life from when I was in grade school - first grade - to when I went away to college.

Some city-council people are really awesome, but most are uninspired.

I was about 15, 16 years old when my father first ran for mayor, and that's where I cut my teeth.

I've been hearing from people saying they see me more than they do their city council member.

There had to be something more important than me being comfortable, me being OK, and me being that one person that made it from Stockton. That's why I decided to run for city council in 2012.

Barack is at a level where he can't - no matter how much he wants to or how much we want him to - he's not going to come take out our garbage, so to speak. He can't be the garbage man and the president. He can't be the mayor and the alderman. He can't fill all those roles. So I always push for local, local activity on the political scene.

My mother, she worked in the mayor's office in Chicago when I was growing up and has been in democratic politics for a long time.

My mother at the age of 65 decided she was going to run for mayor. She had never run for public office, and she decided she wanted to try and do some things for the community.

Be not surprised that I am turned politician. The whole town is immersed in politics.

Never you mind about the country, or about the state, or the city, or about the ward. You take care of your precinct.

What matters is voting for where you live: Who's your mayor, who's your police chief, who represents you, your city council, your judges. That matters that you vote.

Representing the people of Welwyn Garden City makes me intensely proud.

The problem with the Democratic Party is, we're like, 'If we just get another presidential candidate in there, everything will be OK.' We should be focusing on school boards, city council races, state legislatures.

I think it's lovely when people are more involved in local politics.

Grass Roots Convention

I've had an interest in politics since I was a little kid.

I ran for Congress in 1992, but I lost the election, and I really dropped the idea of ever serving in Congress. Eventually, I went home and became the mayor of my city, West Palm Beach. I was mayor for eight years.

I think it is important the communities are listened to and that their voice is heard, particularly with local government boundaries more than parliamentary boundaries, because you are talking very much about communities. It can be a very emotive thing.

Once you've been a mayor, you look to try to get things done.

Things will only improve when the people - all of us - say to authorities, 'I will hold you responsible.' We should all be showing up at city council meetings, lighting up every community with activism and mobilization.

I ran for political office in the Hamptons once in a war I was having with the village. I came in, there were four people running, and I came in around third. It was over my food market - they arrested me. I just wanted to go for office because I thought it would be an interesting to do.

The mayoral mentality is incredibly valuable. I don't want to lose that.

I love mayors.

I ran for public office to do something good.