Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro returned to New Hampshire on Wednesday to campaign for several Democratic candidates but said he's in no rush to announce a run for the party's presidential nomination.
Castro, who has suggested in the past week that he's likely to make a bid for president, said after his arrival in the state that he would "announce after the first of the year if I decide to run. I don't feel rushed to actually announce."
The visit to New Hampshire is the third this year for Castro, a former San Antonio mayor who headed HUD under President Barack Obama.
New Hampshire traditionally holds the first primary in the race for the White House.
Castro explained that November's midterm elections may factor into his final decision.
"These midterm elections set a tone and that they do send a message from the American people," Castro said. "I want to see what message the American people are sending."
Castro arrived in New Hampshire as a wave of pipe-bomb attacks by mail that targeted Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, and others dominated media headlines. While the attacks were thwarted, the incidents heightened an already tense political climate with less than two weeks to go until the November elections.
"It's just another reminder that we're on the wrong path in this county," Castro said as a spoke to a group of Democratic candidates and activists at a house party in Nashua organized by the New Hampshire Young Democrats.
The 44-year old Castro, who would be a prominent Latino candidate in a Democratic field that could exceed 20 contenders, headlined a New Hampshire Democratic Party Latino Caucus community conversation and ended his day in the Granite State by keynoting the Salem Democrats fall gala.
