Report: Julián Castro to endorse Clinton next week

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro is endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, a new report says.

Castro plans on backing Clinton during an event in San Antonio next week, according to BuzzFeed.

{mosads}It said on Friday that three sources have confirmed his endorsement is coming during an event on Oct. 15.

Castro’s decision is the latest move from Clinton’s Latinos for Hillary initiative begun earlier this month.

The HUD secretary was born in San Antonio with his twin, Rep. Joaquín Castro  (D-Texas) and once served as the city’s mayor.

Julián Castro is frequently mentioned as a potential running mate for Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.

Joaquín Castro, meanwhile, has repeatedly campaigned with the former first lady this summer in critical voting states like Iowa.

Latinos for Hillary is also organizing a number of Hispanic house parties heading into next week’s first televised Democratic presidential debate on Oct. 13.

Nevada is a major focus for the events given the Democratic National Committee is conducting its first contest in Las Vegas.

BuzzFeed reported on Friday that Joaquín Castro is stumping for Clinton’s campaign in Nevada on Oct. 11.

Clinton also began touting endorsements from Hispanic celebrities like Salma Hayek earlier this week, the news publication added.

The Clinton campaign announced its new push for the demographic on the first day of National Hispanic Heritage Month. It hopes that the initiative courts a valuable voting demographic amid rising skepticism among Hispanics towards the GOP 2016 presidential field.

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has repeatedly angered the Hispanic community by sharply criticizing illegal immigrants and Mexico this summer.

Clinton is hoping she can capitalize on Hispanic dissatisfaction given that Republicans struggled with those voters during the 2012 election cycle. 

The Republican National Committee (RNC) criticized the reported pairing in a statement Friday afternoon.

“Hillary Clinton and Julian Castro have one thing in common: No one has any idea what they’ve accomplished,” RNC spokeswoman Ruth Guerra said.

“This endorsement will do nothing to save Hillary’s flailing campaign in the midst of plummeting poll numbers and an FBI investigation into mishandling of classified information on her email server,” she added.

– Updated at 6:30 p.m.