San Antonio mayor first Latino to keynote DNC

A 37-year-old Latino mayor and rising star in Texas politics will deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention's opening night, organizers said Tuesday.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will speak at the convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 4, a choice likely aimed at rallying Latino voters. First lady Michelle Obama also will speak opening night, said L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, chair of the convention committee.

Castro is the first Latino to keynote a Democratic convention.

Castro is in his second term as mayor of San Antonio, the seventh-largest city in the nation. He is a twin who was raised by a single mother, attended public schools, and went to Stanford for his bachelor's degree and then on to Harvard for law school. His twin brother, Joaquin Castro, is running for Congress in Texas' 20th District.

In 2004, a relatively unknown Sen. Barack Obama gave a keynote address on the second night of the convention. The speech helped vault him onto the national political stage. In a speech posted on YouTube, Castro referred to Obama's 2004 convention speech and their shared humble beginnings.

"I remember watching his speech in 2004 and being inspired," he said. "When Obama talked about the audacity of hope, I thought back to my mother saying that if you didn't like the ways things were, you could dare to change them."

He ends his speech with a Spanish phrase, "Estamos unidos," which means "We are united."-- Los Angeles Times