First Lady Michelle Obama and the mayor of San Antonio will speak on the opening night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, convention officials announced Tuesday.
Mayor Julian Castro, who is 37 years old and now in his second term as the leader of America's seventh largest city, will become the first Latino keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention.
The first lady and Castro will both speak on Tuesday, Sept. 4, in uptown's Time Warner Cable Arena.
Castro, the youngest mayor of a Top 50 America city, was raised by a single mother and educated in public schools on the working-class West Side in San Antonio. He and his twin brother Joaquin went on to receive bachelor's degrees from Stanford University and law degrees from Harvard University.
Castro is expected to speak in part about his record of bringing well-paying jobs to San Antonio and helping position the city as a leader in the new energy economy.
His choice is another high-profile move by President Obama's campaign to woo the growing Hispanic vote. The president also tapped Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to chair the convention in Charlotte.
