2020 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE CASTRO WILL JOIN AFT PRESIDENT WEINGARTEN AT LAS VEGAS TOWN HALL

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro will join AFT President Randi Weingarten at an AFT Votes town hall in Nevada.

AFT members and retirees from K-12 education and healthcare are expected to participate.

The town hall is part of the 1.7 million-member AFT’s 2020 presidential endorsement process, which encourages AFT members to engage directly with candidates about their concerns and political priorities—including public education and community schools; an economy that works for everybody, not just the rich; student debt; healthcare; and workplace safety.

Secretary Castro has also been the most outspoken of the 2020 Presidential candidates on the issue of racial policing.

Earlier this year, Mr. Castro said the following: “If police in Charleston, South Carolina can arrest Dylann Roof after he murdered nine people worshipping at Bible study, without hurting him, then don’t tell me that Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice, and Aiyana Jones, and Eric Garner, and Jason Pero, and Stephon Clark, and Sandra Bland shouldn’t still be alive today, too.”

On his campaign website, Secretary Castro outlines his "People First Policing" plan, where he has pledged to (1) End over-aggressive policing and combat racially discriminatory policing. (2) Hold police accountable. (3) Start the healing process between communities and law enforcement.

The Nevada town hall is open to AFT members only.