Castro is the representative for Texas’s 20th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Castro is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
![Photo of Rep. Joaquin Castro [D-TX20]](/static/legislator-photos/412576-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Castro.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Castro is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Castro has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jun 11, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Joaquin Castro sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Castro was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 4864 (116th): Global Child Thrive Act of 2020
- H.R. 6315 (116th): COVID–19 National Service Response Act
Does 2 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Castro sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (35%) Immigration (27%) Education (12%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) Science, Technology, Communications (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Castro’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 3812: To encourage Foreign Service officers to serve at the United States mission to ...
- H.R. 3696: To highlight the Indian Ocean’s role in the Indo-Pacific, strengthen engagement with countries ...
- H.R. 3695: To establish the China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 2765: To promote equity in advanced coursework and programs at elementary and secondary schools.
- H.R. 2766: To grant lawful permanent resident status to certain eligible persons who were separated ...
- H.R. 2506: SAUDI WMD Act
- H.R. 1909: Citizenship for Essential Workers Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to May 2021, Castro missed 178 of 4,849 roll call votes, which is 3.7%. This is worse than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
