{"id":64,"date":"2026-05-25T04:10:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64"},"modified":"2026-05-25T04:10:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:10:54","slug":"where-have-all-the-blue-dogs-gone-ask-vicente-gonzalez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is part of a dwindling breed \u2014 he co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats, which counts just 10 members in the current Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Former Rep. Barney Frank dead at 86<\/a><\/p>\n

The ideological middle was a different place when he interned at the Capitol in the 1990s, according to Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, there was 50 or 60 Vicente Gonzalezes \u2026 where now, sometimes I feel like I\u2019m almost totally alone,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As a law student, Gonzalez spent a summer as an intern for Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, who represented Corpus Christi, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was also before the extreme redistricting in this country that we have today,\u201d Gonzalez says.<\/p>\n

Now in his fifth term in the House, Gonzalez is facing a tough reelection race. He saw his district boundaries change again this cycle after Republican state legislators redrew Texas\u2019 congressional map in their favor as part of a multistate blitz.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even so, Gonzalez is projecting optimism and making a pitch for his brand of centrism: \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t want to hear this, but I do believe that as our caucus moved further and further to the left, we started losing elections. \u2026 We talk about being a big tent? We should really be a big tent.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has broken with his party on topics like guns and energy and was one of two Democrats, alongside fellow South Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, who voted with Republicans on legislation aimed at barring transgender students from participating in girls\u2019 sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell everybody, \u2018Look, that is just a very critical issue that doesn\u2019t go well in districts like mine,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think forcing Democrats \u2014 especially frontline Democrats \u2014 to take those votes hurts us at election time, and we need to let people vote their own district.\u201d<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited and condensed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: What is your first memory of politics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: My dad was a merchant marine, and I remember knocking on doors for the National Maritime Union in Corpus Christi, trying to help Democratic candidates get elected at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I got to law school that the bug really hit me, when I helped campaign for Victor Morales for Senate, just as a canvasser. He was an underdog, and nobody thought he would get the nomination. He wins it, though in the end he got defeated by Phil Gramm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But anyway, I went out to West Texas and registered people. It was a lot easier back then, and we actually carried voter registration applications with us. Nowadays, you have to be a registrar and get certified.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Q: You were a Hill intern in the \u201990s. What was that like?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It was the summer of 1994, right before the Republicans took the House. People who had been there for a long time, I remember they would come in the office crying, because they were going to lose their jobs. I guess they were already getting the message that the end was coming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those were good times, though. There was more respect across the aisle, and Democrats and Republicans were working together a lot closer than they are today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Judge rules that Trump cannot ignore Presidential Records Act<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, I still say the most fun I ever had on Capitol Hill was as an intern. Every night, I used to rollerblade around the Supreme Court. You\u2019d probably get shot nowadays. But they had that very slick marble, so it was fun to rollerblade on, and the guards, I just kind of stayed away from them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Q: What did you work on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: That summer in the office we were getting ready for BRAC, the Base Realignment and Closure round, and that was a major project because my congressman was from Corpus Christi. And now I\u2019ve been redistricted into Corpus Christi, oddly enough, and I\u2019ll be representing the Naval Air Station, which I worked to keep open.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m back where I started as an intern in the district where I was born and raised, and I don\u2019t think the map-drawers knew I was going home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Q: Did you see many Latinos on the Hill 30 years ago?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: We were a serious minority. Even Latino interns were super rare. So in that sense, it\u2019s changed, but in terms of actually getting large Latino populations out to the polls, we should have done a lot better by now. And this year is an opportunity to do it.<\/p>\n

Q: Ortiz at one point chaired the <\/strong>Congressional Hispanic Caucus<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It was a lot smaller back then, but it was pretty influential, and there was a lot of excitement around it. They used to call us a sleeping giant. I hope we\u2019ve awoken somewhat. But everybody thought we were on the verge of just exploding politically, and we still have a ways to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By now, I would have thought we would have seen a Latino in the White House. I would have thought we would have seen a lot more Latinos in Cabinet positions, leading federal agencies, and a lot more governors and mayors of major cities.<\/p>\n

The speculation was that Latino voters were going to mostly be Democrats, but we\u2019ve hemorrhaged Latinos, and especially in Texas, to the Republican Party. Without a doubt, I believe the Democratic Party has done a lot more for the Latino community in this country than the Republicans ever have, and I think we\u2019ve not sold that.<\/p>\n

Q: You won your 2024 election by a couple of points, even in a district that went for Donald Trump. How will you keep your seat this time around?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I think it\u2019s having honest conversations with folks, being able to communicate that you\u2019re not an extremist one way or the other, that you have common sense. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Coming from Texas, I have a great relationship with American energy, and that\u2019s one of the top issues I\u2019ve been trying to work on with our leadership, to build a bridge. We don\u2019t have to always agree, but I think we should be communicating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And I was one of the most critical Democrats in the country on how President Biden handled the border, which I believe is why Democrats took a real bath last cycle. All those Democratic counties along the border, they voted Republican.<\/p>\n

I always say Obama deported way more people than Trump has, but we didn\u2019t feel it because he did it in a humane way \u2014 and that\u2019s not happening in this administration. And now there\u2019s a shift in South Texas, especially among Latinos, who say, \u201cHey, this is too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Tensions over prediction markets dominate Senate hearing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is part of a dwindling breed \u2014 he co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats, which counts just 10 members in the current Congress.\u00a0 The ideological middle was a different place when he interned at the Capitol in the 1990s, according to Gonzalez. \u201cBack then, there was 50 or 60 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heard-on-the-hill"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is part of a dwindling breed \u2014 he co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats, which counts just 10 members in the current Congress.\u00a0 The ideological middle was a different place when he interned at the Capitol in the 1990s, according to Gonzalez. \u201cBack then, there was 50 or 60 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T04:10:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\"},\"headline\":\"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T04:10:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64\"},\"wordCount\":1136,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Heard on the Hill\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64\",\"name\":\"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez - American Industry Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T04:10:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg\",\"width\":1620,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 14: Rep. Vicente Gonz\u00e1lez, D-Texas, leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the year on Thursday, December 14, 2023. (Tom Williams\\\/CQ Roll Call)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=64#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Industry Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez - American Industry Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez - American Industry Review","og_description":"Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is part of a dwindling breed \u2014 he co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats, which counts just 10 members in the current Congress.\u00a0 The ideological middle was a different place when he interned at the Capitol in the 1990s, according to Gonzalez. \u201cBack then, there was 50 or 60 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64","og_site_name":"American Industry Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-25T04:10:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd"},"headline":"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez","datePublished":"2026-05-25T04:10:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64"},"wordCount":1136,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg","articleSection":["Heard on the Hill"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64","url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64","name":"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez - American Industry Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-25T04:10:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b3dd9ea5518475b13dd3f765121c0c16.jpg","width":1620,"height":1080,"caption":"UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 14: Rep. Vicente Gonz\u00e1lez, D-Texas, leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the year on Thursday, December 14, 2023. (Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=64#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where have all the Blue Dogs gone? Ask Vicente Gonzalez"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/","name":"American Industry Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanindustryreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}