Julian Castro (file photo)
Democratic candidate Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor, has been criticizing the role Iowa and New Hampshire play in the presidential nominating process. He’s planning a town hall forum next Tuesday in Des Moines to discuss the issue.
“There’s no reason that Iowa and New Hampshire that hardly have any black people or people of color should always go first,” Castro said during a conference call with reporters yesterday.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker told Iowans yesterday that if he fails to get enough support in qualifying polls, there will be a billionaire on the stage for the televised debate later this month, but no black candidate since with California Senator Kamala Harris dropped out of the race this week. Castro hasn’t qualified for the debate either
“My concern is not the presence of any one candidate on the debate stage only,” Castro said yesterday. “We need to change the whole game.”
Castro is not a fan of the caucus process.
“There’s no reason that a caucus system that makes it harder for working people and people with disabilities to participate should be what we begin with,” Castro said. “We need to work to reform how we elect a president in the first place.”
Later today, Castro is among the candidates who will participate in a forum in Waterloo that’s sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The Iowa Farmers Union is hosting a forum in Grinnell this afternoon where several candidates will speak.