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Vicente Gonzalez
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Rubén Hinojosa
Constituency	15th district (2017–2023) 34th district (2023–present)
Personal details
Born	(1967-09-04) September 4, 1967 (age 57) Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lorena Saenz
Education	Del Mar College Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (BA) Texas Wesleyan University (JD)
Website	House website

Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (/vɪˈsɛnteɪ/; born September 4, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician who serves as the United States representative for Texas's 34th congressional district since 2023 and served as the representative for Texas's 15th congressional district from 2017 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life and education

Gonzalez was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1967. 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. 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.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2016

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. He won the Democratic Party nomination, defeating Sonny Palacios in the runoff election. He defeated Republican Tim Westley in the November general election with 57.3% of the vote to Westley's 37.7%.

2018

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

2020

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

2022

After Texas's redistricting based on the 2020 census, Gonzalez in November 2021 announced that he would run for reelection in the 34th district. The 15th district became more Republican but the neighboring 34th became significantly more Democratic. The Texas state legislature put Gonzalez's residence in the 34th. The incumbent in the 34th district, Filemon Vela Jr., had announced earlier in 2021 that he was not seeking reelection, and would endorse Gonzalez regardless of where he ran. Gonzalez won the district's March 2022 Democratic primary. The Republicans nominated Mayra Flores. After Vela resigned on March 31, 2022, Gonzalez declined to run in and instead endorsed Democrat Dan Sanchez in the consequential special election on June 14, 2022, held in the 34th's older, more competitive boundaries. Flores, however, opted to run in the special election, and won with 50.9% of the vote to Sanchez's 43.4%. As a result, Gonzalez and Flores competed against each other in the November 8 general election, in which Gonzalez defeated Flores to become the next representative for the 34th District. In the same election, Gonzalez's 2020 opponent Monica De La Cruz ran in and won in the redrawn 15th District, making her the successor to Gonzalez for that district.

During the campaign, a blogger who received campaign funds from Gonzalez lobbed racist attacks at Flores, calling her "Miss Frijoles" and "Miss Enchiladas". He accused her of "playing the race card" and called her a "cotton pickin' liar" for having worked in cotton fields with her immigrant parents as a child. Gonzalez said he had never read the blog and was unaware of the blogger's racist commentary, and committed not to give any more campaign money to the blog.

2024

Gonzalez was re-elected in 2024. He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. He ran against Republican nominee Mayra Flores in the November 2024 general election.

Before the Republican primary election, Gonzalez' campaign targeted the weaker primary candidate, Greg Kunkle, in hopes he would become the nominee and make Gonzalez' path to re-election easier.

During his 2024 campaign, Gonzalez compared Hispanic Trump supporters to "Jews for Hitler," prompting criticism from Republicans in his mostly Hispanic South Texas district. Gonzalez stood by his comments saying, "I don’t understand how Mexican Americans can vote for Trump. It’s clearly a vote against self interest. And yes it would be like the Jewish community voting for Hitler before the atrocities he caused. That would never happen. And Latinos need wake up and see a tyrant on the horizon."

Tenure

Gonzalez was sworn on January 3, 2017.

In 2017, Gonzalez introduced the Repatriate Our Patriots Act which allows U.S. military veterans who are not U.S. citizens and have been deported for certain nonviolent offenses to return to the United States.

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.

Gonzalez received the Order of the Quetzal in January 2020.

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. The group of Democrats stated, "We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law.”

On July 29, 2022, Gonzalez and four other Democrats joined the Republicans in voting against a bill banning assault weapons.

In September of 2022, Gonzalez introduced the Safe Zones Act which requires the U.S. State Department to "establish safe zones that accept applications for asylum from individuals who are nationals of (1) the country where that safe zone is located, or (2) a country next to the country where the safe zone is located."

As of January 2023, Gonzalez had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 97.4% of the time.

According to the Lugar Center, Gonzalez ranked in the top 50 most bipartisan Members of Congress in the first session of the 118th Congress.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets
  • United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance
  • United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade
  • United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional Task Force to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels
• Congressional El Salvador Caucus
• Congressional Oil & Gas Caucus
• Congressional Small Business Caucus
• Congressional Blue Collar Caucus
• Medicare for All Caucus
• Blue Collar Caucus
• Blue Dog Coalition
• New Democrat Coalition
• Problem Solvers Caucus (former)

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. Gonzalez lives in McAllen.

Gonzalez is Roman Catholic.

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress

References

1. "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch.
2. "Our District". December 4, 2012.
3. "Guide to the New Congress" (PDF). Roll Call. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
4. "Official Congressional Website". December 3, 2012.
5. 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.
6. Politics, Edinburg (November 23, 2015). "Democrat Vicente González announces for Congress to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Hinojosa". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
7. "Democratic Party Runoff: Vicente Gonzalez crushes Sonny Palacios in congressional race". May 25, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
8. Nelsen, By Aaron (May 25, 2016). "Gonzalez cruises to easy victory in the Democratic primary for open congressional seat; faces GOP opponent in the fall". Mysa. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
9. LOPEZ, NAXIELY. "Gonzalez takes Dem nomination for Congressional District 15". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
10. "Texas Election Results". New York Times. November 9, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
11. "Texas Election Results - Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
12. Livingston, Abby; Carolan, Kelsey (November 4, 2020). "Texas Republicans fighting off Democrats in battleground congressional races". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
13. "House Dems head off retirement crisis - for now". Politico. June 26, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
14. "Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez defeats GOP candidate Mayra Flores in TX". NBC News. November 9, 2022.
15. Neukam, Matthew Choi and Stephen (November 9, 2022). "Monica De La Cruz becomes first Republican to win in 15th Congressional District in South Texas". The Texas Tribune.
16. "Blogger with ties to Vicente Gonzalez lobs racist attack at his congressional opponent Mayra Flores".
17. Garcia, By Berenice (November 6, 2024). "Vicente Gonzalez defeats Mayra Flores to hold onto South Texas congressional district". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
18. Choi, Matthew (February 27, 2024). "U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez wants GOP voters to believe that Mayra Flores is the weaker primary candidate". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
19. Choi, Matthew (March 14, 2024). "Vicente Gonzalez compares Latino Trump supporters to "Jews for Hitler"". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
20. Choi, Matthew (March 14, 2024). "Vicente Gonzalez compares Latino Trump supporters to "Jews for Hitler"".
21. Lopez, Naxiely (January 3, 2017). "Newcomer Vicente Gonzalez to be sworn into congress: Pressing issues await the new District 15 representative". The Monitor.
22. "H.R.3429 - Repatriate Our Patriots Act". Congress.gov.
23. 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.
24. Congressman Vicente Gonzalez receives Guatemala's highest honor by Ronnie Marley, CBS4 Valley Central, 20 January 2020
25. "Already, Cracks Emerge in Rep. Josh Gottheimer's "Unbreakable Nine"". August 25, 2021.
26. Bouie, Jamelle (August 24, 2021). "Opinion | the 9 Democrats Making Nancy Pelosi's Life Harder Are Making a Big Mistake". The New York Times.
27. Shabad, Rebecca; Caldwell, Leigh Ann (August 13, 2021). "Moderate House Dems say they won't support budget vote until infrastructure bill passes". NBC News.
28. Lee, Ella (July 30, 2022). "Who are the 7 House members who broke with their party in voting on assault weapons ban?". USA Today. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
29. "H.R.8823 - Safe Zones Act of 2022". Congress.gov.
30. "H.R.2946 - Safe Zones Act of 2023". Congress.gov.
31. Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
32. "The Lugar Center - McCourt School of Bipartisan Index". The Lugar Center.
33. 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.
34. "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
35. "Members". Blue Dog Coalition. September 6, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
36. "Leadership | New Democrat Coalition". newdemocratcoalition.house.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
37. "Problem Solvers Caucus Announces Membership and Executive Council for the 118th Congress". March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
38. "Featured Members". Problem Solvers Caucus. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
39. Taylor, Steve (November 22, 2015). "Gonzalez explains why he is running for Congressional District 15". Retrieved November 6, 2016.
40. 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.
41. "Religious affiliation of members of 118th Congress" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2023.

External links

• Congressman Gonzalez official U.S. House website
• Campaign website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• 1967 births
• Catholic politicians from Texas
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
• Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University
• Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
• Living people
• American politicians of Mexican descent
• People from McAllen, Texas
• Texas A&M University School of Law alumni
• Texas lawyers
• 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives