Hello friends, neighbors and fellow Texans! We have been extraordinarily busy this month, canvassing San Antonio’s poll sites as you all, y’all, stand patiently in line, waiting patiently and peacefully to exercise our precious right to vote. Thank you to everyone for getting out there! I hope you’ve enjoyed my daily reminder that Joaquin Castro has never passed a bill in Congress. It’s an important message to spread because we deserve to know whether OUR representative is out there working for US, and this is just one of many examples of how my opponent(and predecessor) has ignored and abandoned the great people of District 20.
But, let’s be fair. I am not a career politician and I do not want to be like the typical politician who finds and skews whatever statistic can help their talking points. As a voter asked me the other day, should we give him a chance? Maybe it takes a while for a Representative to pass a bill? So how does Joaquin Castro compare to other representatives? How does he compare to his predecessors? Is it normal or reasonable for a Congressman to pass no bills during the first 8 years in Congress? Am I being fair?
Well, let’s start by taking a look at his peers. In the current Congress, with much of the action slowed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, 83 representatives have sponsored and passed bills into law. In the previous Congress the number of laws was three times that! This is very interesting, but as another voter asked: isn’t it because the Senate is held by Republicans? Nope. 80% of those bills passed were sponsored by Democrats.
Well how does that compare to his predecessors? Charlie Gonzalez passed a bill into law during each of his two terms representing District 20. Charlie’s father, the legendary Henry B. Gonzalez, sponsored 29 bills into law dating back to 1973(when the Library of Congress began tracking the numbers) and, during HIS first years, helped pass the Housing Act, the Equal Opportunities Act, the Civil Rights Act in 1964 alone!
What does this all mean? It confirms, with a fair look, what I and the people of District 20 have been saying all along. Joaquin Castro is not working for the people of San Antonio. With most of his top campaign donors coming from outside his district and from other states(93%), we really must ask, “Who does Joaquin Castro work for?”
The great people of South Texas deserve a leader who works for them. Let’s get out there and vote folks. Talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors and then put me to work for you! It’s time for a change friends. Let’s talk again!