Representative Charles A. Gonzalez

Charles Augustine González (born May 5, 1945) is an American Democratic politician from Texas who represented Texas’s 20th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1999, to January 3, 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served seven consecutive terms in Congress, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history. Over the course of his congressional career, he became known as a prominent Hispanic legislator, later serving as Chairman of Latinos for Obama and as a National Co-chair of President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

González was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Bertha Marie (née Cuellar) and Henry B. González. Both of his parents were Texas-born and of Mexican descent, and his father, Henry B. González, was a long-serving Democratic member of Congress who represented Texas’s 20th congressional district from 1961 until his son succeeded him in 1999. As a youth in San Antonio, Charles González was a Boy Scout in Troop 90, where his father served as Scoutmaster, an experience that reflected the family’s strong emphasis on civic engagement and public service. He attended Thomas A. Edison High School in San Antonio, from which he graduated before pursuing higher education.

González received his bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin in 1969. That same year, he began service in the Texas Air National Guard, where he served as a technical sergeant from 1969 until 1975. Following his undergraduate studies, he returned to San Antonio for legal training, earning his Juris Doctor degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1972. His combined background in government, military service, and law laid the foundation for a career that would span private legal practice, the judiciary, and ultimately the U.S. Congress.

After completing law school, González entered private practice as an attorney in San Antonio, practicing law until 1982. He then began rising through the ranks of the Texas court system. He first served as a municipal court judge, and later as a judge in both county and district courts, positions that in Texas are filled through elections. His judicial service gave him extensive experience in the administration of justice and public policy at the local and regional levels, and it enhanced his profile as a public servant in the San Antonio community.

Henry B. González had long groomed his son to be his successor in Congress. When the elder González chose not to seek a full nineteenth term in 1998, Charles González ran for the open seat in Texas’s 20th congressional district. In a crowded seven-way Democratic primary, he led the field with 44 percent of the vote, narrowly missing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. In the subsequent runoff, he defeated San Antonio City Councilwoman Maria Antonietta Berriozabal by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent. In the general election, he defeated Republican James Walker, winning 63 percent to 36 percent. With this victory, he became only the fourth person to represent the 20th District since its creation in 1935, and his initial race marked the first open-seat contest in the district’s 64-year history. Given that the 20th District is a heavily Democratic, majority-Hispanic district where Republicans had fielded only nominal candidates since Henry González first won the seat in a 1961 special election, Charles González’s primary victory effectively assured his succession to his father’s long-held seat.

During his seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1999 to 2013, González consistently secured strong support from his constituents. He was re-elected six times and never received less than 63 percent of the vote in a general election. He faced a Republican challenger only three times—in 2004, 2008, and 2010—while encountering no major-party opposition in 2000 and 2006 and running completely unopposed in 2002. In Congress, he was a member of the New Democrat Coalition, reflecting a generally moderate, pro-growth, and pragmatic approach within the Democratic Party. He was widely regarded as less confrontational than his father, who was known for his fiery style and once physically confronted someone who had called him a communist. Together, Henry and Charles González represented Texas’s 20th congressional district for 52 consecutive years, a father–son tenure surpassed in length in the House only by the Dingell family of Michigan.

González’s committee assignments placed him at the center of key policy areas. He served on the powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce, where he sat on the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, and the Subcommittee on Health, engaging in legislative work on issues ranging from consumer protection and industrial policy to energy regulation and health care. He also served on the Committee on House Administration, including the Subcommittee on Elections, where he was the Ranking Member, and the Subcommittee on Oversight. In addition to his formal committee roles, he was active in caucus leadership, serving as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and participating in the Congressional Arts Caucus. His tenure in Congress coincided with major national developments, and he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his San Antonio–area constituents during a period marked by economic change, international conflict, and significant domestic policy debates.

González emerged as an early and active supporter of Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. He was one of the first members of Congress to back Obama’s candidacy, emphasizing the Illinois senator’s ability to attract new voters and broaden political participation. Speaking to the San Antonio Express-News, González observed that “Senator Obama brings all these new fresh faces. He has a wider audience. He has the greater potential to engage a greater number of people.” He later served as Chairman of Latinos for Obama and as a National Co-chair of President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, roles that underscored his prominence within the party and his influence among Hispanic and Latino voters nationwide.

On November 25, 2011, González announced that he would not seek reelection in the 2012 congressional elections, thereby concluding his service in the House at the end of the 112th Congress. He explained that he wished to pursue a position that would allow him “to be productive and have the resources to make a better life” for himself and his family. After leaving Congress in January 2013, he remained a notable figure in discussions of Hispanic representation in American politics and is listed among Hispanic and Latino Americans who have served in the United States Congress.