Illustration by Jeremiah TeutschJoaquín Castro staged two fundraisers in Washington, D.C., last Wednesday, and his campaign's planning two more events in June – in Austin and Los Angeles. But if you thumb through his latest campaign finance report, you may wonder what all of the fuss is about. As of March 31, the 37-year-old Democrat could boast of having a little more than $300,000 in the bank – to run in a congressional district that any reasonable observer would conclude is his for the taking.
He's got no opponent in the May 29 primary election. And we're talking about outgoing Congressman Charlie Gonzalez's 20th District, which takes in a big portion of the West Side. It's solid Democratic ground – Democrat Bill White took 63 percent of the vote there against Governor Rick Perry in 2010 – so the general election in November will be something of a formality, despite the names of candidates from the Green, Libertarian, and Republican parties that'll likely be on the ballot. They are Antonio Diaz, A.E. "Tracy" Potts, and David Rosa, respectively.
So why is Castro's fundraising machine running at full-tilt?
Clout is the short answer.
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