Julián Castro - Mayor

A 37-year-old San Antonio native, Mayor Julián Castro is the youngest mayor of a Top 50 American city. First elected on May 9, 2009, Mayor Castro handily won re-election in 2011 with nearly 82 percent of the vote.

Throughout his tenure, Mayor Castro has focused on attracting well-paying jobs in 21st century industries, positioning San Antonio to be a leader in the New Energy Economy and raising educational attainment across the spectrum.

Mayor Castro created SA 2020, a community-wide visioning effort turned nonprofit that has galvanized thousands of San Antonians around a simple, but powerful vision for San Antonio - to create a brainpower community that is the liveliest city in the nation.

Under his leadership, the city in 2010 opened Café College, a one-stop counseling center offering advice on financial aid, college admissions and standardized test preparation to any student in the San Antonio area. In its first year, Café College served more than 5,000 area students, spurring an expansion of the facility in 2011.

Mayor Castro also has brought renewed focus to revitalizing the city's urban core, including the underserved East Side of San Antonio, by approving a series of incentives to spur inner city investment. Those efforts culminated with Mayor Castro being named “2010 Downtowner of the Year” by the Downtown Alliance.

In March 2010, Mayor Castro joined executives from Google and Twitter in being named to the World Economic Forum's list of Young Global Leaders. Later that year, Time magazine placed him on its "40 under 40" list of rising stars in American politics. In 2005, Castro founded The Law Offices of Julián Castro, PLLC, a civil litigation practice. In addition to his community service, Mayor Castro has taught courses at The University of Texas at San Antonio, Trinity University, and St. Mary's University.

Mayor Castro earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University with honors and distinction in 1996 and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2000. In 2001, at the age of 26, Castro became the youngest elected city councilman at that time in San Antonio history.

He is married to Erica Lira Castro, an elementary school teacher, and they are the proud parents of Carina, born in March 2009.

Mayor Castro's brother, Joaquin, serves in the Texas House of Representatives.