Bexar Democrats ‘drafting' Castro for 2014 gubernatorial run

In the home stretch of a crucial election effort to pass his pre-K education plan, Mayor Julián Castro is being drafted for a different race, two years away.

Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina launched a social media movement last week to draft Castro for the 2014 Texas governor's race.

Medina, who unseated former party Chairwoman Choco Meza in May, describes the push as an attempt to capitalize on Castro's ascendant national profile and create grass-roots momentum for a Castro candidacy.

“This was our (party) initiative, 100 percent, because we believe he's the future of the state,” said Medina, a native of Mexico who runs a lucrative polling company in Panama.

Medina said the idea was hatched by local Democratic Party precinct chairs. The party chairman unveiled a “draft Castro” website (draftcastro4gov.com), Facebook page, and Twitter account on Oct. 9.

That night, he introduced the draft campaign to the party's County Executive Committee, and says it was greeted with “thunderous applause” by committee members.

Dante Small, a committee member and president of the Bexar County Young Democrats, said party members are excited at the mere suggestion of a Castro gubernatorial campaign.

“Having him run for governor would galvanize Democrats and Latino voters in this state,” Small said.

Castro has been viewed as a rising political star since he took the mayoral oath in 2009, but speculation about a statewide run has intensified since he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in early September.

Political observers suggest that any Democratic candidate for governor would face long odds in 2014 and the mayor insists that, if re-elected, he plans to remain in the mayor's office until 2017, when he will be term limited.

“There are a lot of people that will tell the mayor that it's not the right timing,” Medina said. “What we're saying is: ‘We'll create the timing.'”

The new website asks supporters to sign the draft petition. A low-key rollout last week generated just 47 “likes” as of Wednesday afternoon for the draft-Castro Facebook page.

Castro, meanwhile, is concentrating on the Nov. 6 referendum for his Pre-K 4 SA program, which would expand pre-kindergarten education in San Antonio, and fund it with a 1/8-cent sales-tax increase.

The pre-K plan is viewed as a legacy achievement for the mayor, who has staked his reputation (and political capital) on its passage.

Castro “is focused very much on this election, on passing Pre-K 4 SA,” said Christian Archer, the mayor's campaign manager. “We have talked about the (mayoral) re-election campaign, which is coming up in May, but there's been no talk of running for governor.”

Archer said this week that he hasn't seen the website.

Medina said he hasn't talked with Archer or Castro about the draft effort.

He said he expects Democratic polling site workers to collect draft petition signatures on Election Day, and predicts the effort will heat up as soon as this election cycle is over.