Julián Castro's Biography

Julián Castro has distinguished himself as a strong leader and successful public servant for nearly two decades. A former Democratic candidate for President, Castro served as the 16th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017, and as mayor of San Antonio from 2009 to 2014. At HUD, Castro managed 8,000 employees and a budget of more than $46 billion, and he led progress at the Department that earned it recognition as one of the most improved federal agencies. Castro also co-chaired the United States delegation to the United Nations Habitat III conference, spearheaded efforts to reduce homelessness, and created Connect Home, a public-private partnership to deliver broadband to public housing residents.

Previously, as mayor of America’s seventh largest city, Castro brought a strong focus to expanding educational achievement and making San Antonio a leader in the 21st century global economy. Under Castro’s leadership, San Antonio implemented Pre-K4SA, a high quality early childhood learning initiative that has earned praise as one of America’s strongest public pre-kindergarten programs. During his tenure, San Antonio ranked first on the Milken Institute’s Best Performing Cities List, received an A+ grade for doing business by Forbes, and was the only Top 10 city at the time to achieve a Triple A bond rating with each of the three major ratings agencies.

A native Texan, Castro began his public service career in 2001, becoming, at the age of 26, San Antonio’s youngest city councilman in history at the time. Castro made history again in 2012, when he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, the first Latino to do so.

Following his service in the Obama administration, Castro served as the Dean’s Distinguished Fellow and Fellow of the Davila Chair in International Trade Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Castro’s memoir, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up From My American Dream was published by Little Brown in 2018.

Today, Castro serves on the board of directors of the LBJ Foundation and is a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. 

Castro received a B.A. from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Erica, have a daughter, Carina, and a son, Cristián. Castro’s twin brother, Joaquin, represents the 20th Congressional District of Texas.

Chris Christie's Biography

Chris Christie was inaugurated as the 55th Governor of the State of New Jersey on January 19, 2010. He was re-elected with 60% of the vote in November of 2013 and served two terms as Governor. He left office in January of 2018.

During his time in office, Governor Christie emphasized the issues of budget reform, pension and health benefit reform, school choice and education reform and the opioid crisis gripping his state and the nation. His March 2017 law restricting opioid prescriptions led to a 26% reduction in those prescriptions in its first year. He also devised the state’s groundbreaking response to Superstorm Sandy, leading the rebuilding of the state’s housing, infrastructure and public schools and setting a bi-partisan example for storm recovery.

Governor Christie was a leader among his colleagues as Governor. He was elected Chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2014, leading the organization to a record fundraising effort and the election of 31 Republican Governors. He also was elected to the Executive Committee of the National Governors Association and served from 2010-2013.

In 2017, President Donald J. Trump appointed Governor Christie as Chairman of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. Governor Christie led the Commission on a seven-month investigation of this issue, holding hearings around the country. The Commission issued a final report on November 1, 2017. The report contained more than 65 substantive recommendations, all of which were adopted by President Trump.

As Governor, he was also the lead plaintiff in challenging the federal prohibition on sports gambling. His six-year fight against the four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA concluded with a win before the U.S. Supreme Court in May of 2018, invalidating the law against legal sports gaming across the nation.

Prior to his service as Governor, he served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from January 2002 to December 2008. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on December 7, 2001. His office brought 130 cases prosecuting political corruption at all levels of New Jersey government and never lost a case. He served as one of seventeen U.S. Attorneys on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee in Washington, DC.

He was in the private practice of law from 1987-2001 specializing in corporate law, securities matters and appellate advocacy. He graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.A. in Political Science in 1984. He was awarded a Juris Doctor degree by Seton Hall University School of Law in 1987. He is admitted to the Bar of the State of New Jersey, the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and the United States Supreme Court.

In 2019, he authored The New York Times best seller, Let Me Finish, about his life and career in New Jersey and as a candidate for President.

He is now a Senior Legal and Political Commentator for ABC News and the Managing Member of the Christie Law Firm and Christie 55 Solutions, LLC in Morristown, NJ.

Governor Christie also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Mets, appointed by owner Steve Cohen, Pacira Pharmaceuticals in Parsippany, NJ, LifePoint Health in Nashville, TN, Saker Holdings in Middletown, NJ, and Maxim Crane in Bridgeville, PA. He also served from May 2018-May 2021 as Executive Chairman of Beach House Recovery Centers in Juno Beach, Florida, a BelHealth portfolio company.

Governor Christie married his wife Mary Pat in 1986. They have four children: Andrew, Sarah Anne, Patrick and Bridget. They currently reside in Mendham and Bay Head, New Jersey.