Julián Castro says he's the 'antithesis to Donald Trump' in his first official 2020 Iowa event

At Grand View University, Heaven Chamberlain, a student at the Des Moines Area Community College, asked presidential candidate Julián Castro about his stance on gun control.

After he talked about his past as a “Texan who’s for gun regulation,” Chamberlain said she was sold.

“Well, you have my caucus vote,” she said.

“Great,” Castro said. “Now, I just need to get a million more votes, a thousand more.”

The former Housing and Urban Development secretary held a town hall at the Des Moines university Thursday and plans to speak to Democratic Central Committee members in Exira in the evening.

It's technically Castro's first visit to Iowa as a presidential candidate. The last time he visited Iowa, back in January, was just a week before he officially launched his campaign.

In Des Moines, he answered questions on a variety of topics, ranging from income inequality to eminent domain and LGBTQ rights.

Throughout, he emphasized his goal of making sure everyone has equal opportunities for success in America.

“Whoever you are, I want to make sure you can reach your American Dream the way I have reached mine,” he told the crowd of around 80 in Des Moines on Thursday afternoon.

Castro echoed many of the points he made had made before: His grandmother was able to have her foot amputated to survive diabetes because she was on Medicare, and he quit his job as a lawyer to vote against a client while on San Antonio city council.

He said he supports “Medicare-for-all,” but still wants to keep an option for supplemental private insurance. He supports overhauling the immigration system, but also in investing more in security at the borders.

On labor, Castro said his campaign was "leading by example”: He's paying all of his staff, including interns, at least $15/hour, is not taking corporate PAC money, and would support his staff in unionizing if they choose to do so, he said.

“We can talk all we want about how we think workers should be treated,” he said, “but that means we should treat our workers like we want them to be treated.”

After his town hall meeting in Des Moines, Castro spoke with a group of 25 Democrats in Exira. Staff for former Rep. John Delaney, another presidential candidate, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, who is considering a run, also spoke at the event. Former 4th District Democratic candidate J.D. Scholten, who ran against Rep. Steve King in 2018, also spoke at the meeting.

Attendees asked questions on partisanship, the national debt and agriculture. Castro said he supports the renewable fuel standard and that ethanol “has a role to play” in the country's pursuit of sustainability.

“I would like to see every state prosper because of our investment in renewable energy,” he said.

Dave and Margaret Chase of Atlantic, Iowa, drove about 15 minutes to see Castro. Dave Chase said he's still in the “first date” phase of the caucus cycle, but liked some of what he heard from Castro on Thursday.

“Focusing on the middle class, like Julian mentioned here, is the key,” Chase said. “But right now, every candidate is trying to appeal to a broad base and see what reactions they get. … There’s nothing really to disagree with, at this point.”

Castro had planned to meet with Democratic state legislators at the Iowa State Capitol Thursday morning, but that meeting was canceled because of travel delays, according to Castro's deputy press secretary, Sawyer Hackett.

Castro is competing against more than a dozen candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. He said he stands out in the Democratic field because he’s the “antithesis to Donald Trump.”

“I am not trying to make anything in the country ‘again,’” he said, referencing Trump’s “make America great again” slogan. “I’m trying to make it better than it’s ever been.”

As far as taking on Trump, he said Democrats need to not stoop to the president's level.

“We’re never going to beat Donald Trump by being Donald Trump,” Castro said. “Hope and vision and what we’re going to positively do for American families is our ticket to success.”

Sally Goode, the chair of the Latinx Caucus for the Iowa Democratic Party, said she was excited to see a Latino candidate running for the presidency. But she said that representation wasn’t enough — she wants to support candidates of any demographic who support issues important to the Latinx community.

“Castro has some good points — on what he said about the DREAM Act, about supporting workers in our community who feel threatened with current rhetoric,” Goode said. “But I want to hear more specifics from him and the rest of the Democrats on what they say they’re going to do and what they can actually do.”

The Texas Democrat has several other events planned for this weekend. Castro has events scheduled with Democrats in Carroll, Denison and Sioux City on Friday, and is stopping in Storm Lake and Boone on Saturday before attending the Story County Soup Supper alongside Sen. Kamala Harris and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper  on Saturday night.

“I know I’m not a frontrunner right now,” Castro said. “But I’m confident by the time (of) Iowa caucuses that I will be.”