EDINBURG — When U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro stepped onto a stage under a blue-and-white-striped tent during a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a crowd of more than 100 locals went wild.
“Don’t let anybody ever say that the (Rio Grande) Valley does not vote, because you all have been showing up, turning out to vote since it started,” said Castro, who represents Texas’ 20th Congressional District from his hometown of San Antonio.
Every sentence he spoke was punctuated with cheers, shouts and calls of “Never Trump!” or “Hillary!” He mentioned Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during his speech, which lasted about six minutes, by recalling when the New York businessman said Mexican immigrants are criminals during the announcement of his candidacy last year.
“I heard that as … a grandson of a woman who came here when she was 6 years old,” he said. “My grandmother came here from Coahuila, Mexico. My grandmother was not a murderer or a rapist; she was an orphan.”
Attendees, many of whom wore shirts, buttons or hats expressing their support for Democratic candidates in local and national races, held blue signs from the Clinton campaign high in the air.
Among them were Norma Flores and Rosalinda Martinez, who were dancing to Tejano music, spinning each other around, still riding on the energy from Castro’s appearance shortly after he left the stage. The pair of Edinburg residents said they voted as early as possible on the morning of Oct. 24.
“We are strong Democrats,” Flores, 64, said. “‘Till death do us part.”
This was Flores’ first-ever rally, which she said energized her about the election. She explained that Castro’s words criticizing Trump were warranted.
“We’re not what they say, like this guy Trump, is saying our ancestors were murders, rapists, all this,” she said. “We work for what we have. We don’t take nothing from no one.”
Immigration is a key issue for Edinburg resident Victor Valdez, who bore no campaign accessories of his own, but declared himself ready to support Clinton.
“We have to work a lot on (immigration),” the 63-year-old said. “We can do it and we have to do it because there is a lot of discrimination in this country.”
He explained that he does not usually identify himself as a member of any specific party, but that he is voting for Democratic candidates across the board this election.
“I’m going for the ones who are doing something for the community,” he said. “I don’t care about the party.”
At one point during Castro’s speech, a man holding a sign supporting Green Party candidate Jill Stein stood front and center, waving his sign before the representative. A pair of men confronted the man, whose lengthy hair was dyed a faded green and wore a Green Party shirt, forcing him to leave the tent. He stuck around for a bit longer, pacing at the back of the crowd.
Meanwhile on the stage, Castro explained that the Democratic Party stands for equality regardless of race or one’s ability to speak English. It is up to the voters, he said, to ensure the United States remains a country of opportunity for all.
“It is up to us to make sure that when you ask the question 50 years from now, where somebody would want to go if they were going to leave their home country, that the answer is still a beautiful country: the United States of America,” he said to roaring cheers and applause.
This was the first of three South Texas stops for Castro. He will also visit rallies in Corpus Christi and Robstown.
