Vicente Gonzalez (politician)

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Vicente Gonzalez
Vicente Gonzalez 115th congress photo.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 15th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byRubén Hinojosa
Personal details
Born (1967-09-04) September 4, 1967 (age 54)
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Lorena Saenz
EducationDel Mar College
Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (BA)
Texas Wesleyan University (JD)
WebsiteHouse website

Vicente Gonzalez Jr.[1] (/vɪˈsɛnteɪ/; born September 4, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the United States Representative for Texas's 15th congressional district since 2017.[2] He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district includes a narrow ribbon of South Texas stretching from San Antonio's outer suburbs to the Rio Grande Valley, and includes Brooks, Duval, Guadalupe, Jim Hogg, Karnes, and Live Oak Counties, and parts of Hidalgo and Wilson Counties.[3]

Early life[]

Gonzalez was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1967.[4] He grew up in a working-class family, often working odd jobs that displayed entrepreneurial skills. He went to Roman Catholic School in Corpus Christi for part of his childhood. In 11th grade, he dropped out of high school. He returned to school through a G.E.D. and enrolled at Del Mar Junior College, where he received an associate degree in banking and finance.[5][6] In 1992, Gonzalez earned his Bachelor of Science in aviation business administration from the Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University on the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. In 1996, he graduated from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now the Texas A&M University School of Law) with a Juris Doctor.

Gonzalez founded his law firm, V. Gonzalez & Associates, in 1997. He recovered tens of millions of dollars for plaintiffs nationwide and was nominated to the "Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum". He is a member of Texas's and New York's bar associations.[7] He is also licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

U.S. House of Representatives[]

Elections[]

2016
See also: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 15

As a newcomer to politics, Gonzalez declared his candidacy in 2016 for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 15th congressional district after Rubén Hinojosa, the incumbent representative, announced he would not run for reelection.[8] He won the Democratic Party nomination, defeating Sonny Palacios in the runoff election.[9][10][11] He defeated Republican Tim Westley in the November general election with 57.3% of the vote to Westley's 37.7%.[12]

2018
See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 15

Gonzalez defeated Westley again with 59.7% of the vote to Westley's 38.7%.

2020
See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 15

In 2020, Gonzalez's seat became unexpectedly competitive. He defeated Republican Monica de la Cruz-Hernandez by a narrower margin than he had in his previous two victories, with 50.5% of the vote to Cruz-Hernandez's 47.6%.[13][14]

Tenure[]

Gonzalez was sworn in January 3, 2017.[15] He is only the seventh person to represent this district since its creation in 1903.[citation needed]

In January 2019, Gonzalez and other members of the bipartisan U.S. House Problem Solvers Caucus met with President Donald Trump in an unsuccessful bid to end the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.[16]

Gonzalez received the Order of the Quetzal in January 2020.[17]

In August 2021, Gonzalez joined a group of conservative Democrats, dubbed "The Unbreakable Nine", who threatened to derail the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package meant to tackle the nation's infrastructure.[18][19]

As of September 2021, Gonzalez had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 97.2% of the time.[20]

Committee assignments[]

Caucus memberships[]

Personal life[]

Gonzalez's wife, Lorena, is a former teacher and school administrator from McAllen, Texas. His father was a merchant seaman who served in the Korean War.[26] Gonzalez lives in McAllen.[27]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Texas Birth Index record
  2. ^ "Our District". December 4, 2012.
  3. ^ "Meet Vicente Gonzalez". July 18, 2017.
  4. ^ "Guide to the New Congress" (PDF). Roll Call. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  5. ^ "Official Congressional Website". December 3, 2012.
  6. ^ O'Reilly, Andrew (April 19, 2016). "Texas lawyer Vicente Gonzalez hopes outsider tag takes him to Capitol Hill". Fox News Latino. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  7. ^ "Local Attorney and Small Business Owner Seeks to Build Upon the Legacy of Retiring Representative Rubén Hinojosa – My Harlingen News". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  8. ^ Politics, Edinburg (November 23, 2015). "Democrat Vicente González announces for Congress to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Hinojosa". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  9. ^ News, CBS 4 (May 25, 2016). "Democratic Party Runoff: Vicente Gonzalez crushes Sonny Palacios in congressional race". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  10. ^ "Gonzalez cruises to easy victory in the Democratic primary for open congressional seat; faces GOP opponent in the fall". May 25, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  11. ^ LOPEZ, NAXIELY. "Gonzalez takes Dem nomination for Congressional District 15". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  12. ^ "Texas Election Results". New York Times. November 9, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  13. ^ "Texas Election Results - Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  14. ^ Livingston, Abby; Carolan, Kelsey (November 4, 2020). "Texas Republicans fighting off Democrats in battleground congressional races". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  15. ^ Lopez, Naxiely (January 3, 2017). "Newcomer Vicente Gonzalez to be sworn into congress: Pressing issues await the new District 15 representative". The Monitor.
  16. ^ Benning, Tom (January 16, 2019). "Why this Texas Democrat met with Trump amid shutdown fight over border wall". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  17. ^ Congressman Vicente Gonzalez receives Guatemala's highest honor by Ronnie Marley, CBS4 Valley Central, 20 January 2020
  18. ^ https://theintercept.com/2021/08/24/reconciliation-infrastructure-gottheimer-democrats-unbreakable-nine/
  19. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/opinion/democrats-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill.html
  20. ^ Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  21. ^ Garcia, Berenice (January 11, 2017). "Gonzalez appointed to powerful House committee: Freshman congressman secures assignment to House Financial Services Committee". The Monitor. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  22. ^ "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  23. ^ "Members". Blue Dog Coalition. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  24. ^ "Featured Members". Problem Solvers Caucus. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  25. ^ "Leadership | New Democrat Coalition". newdemocratcoalition.house.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  26. ^ Taylor, Steve (November 22, 2015). "Gonzalez explains why he is running for Congressional District 15". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  27. ^ Livingston, Abby (May 4, 2020). "U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez suffers broken back, ordered to bed rest at least four weeks". Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 4, 2020.

External links[]

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Rubén Hinojosa 		Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 15th congressional district
2017–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Mike Gallagher 		United States representatives by seniority
265th 		Succeeded by
Josh Gottheimer
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