San Diego Metropolitan - 40 Under 40

As a legislative director for State Sen. Steve Peace, 29-year-old Art Castanares works in the Sacramento State Capitol building Mondays through Thursdays, then serves in the La Mesa district office on Fridays. His responsibilities include researching legislative policy, helping the senator make policy decisions, fielding media calls, and traveling and attending meetings with Peace.

Castanares has been working in Peace’s office since age 17, when Patricia Browning, a Hilltop High School teacher and Steve Peace’s mother, encouraged Castanares to take part in public speaking. Outside of his job, Castanares has worked on numerous campaigns and served in official positions for the Democratic Party. At age 26, he became the youngest chairman elected in California to the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee. During his two-year term as chair, he managed an annual budget of more than $100,000, led candidate recruiting efforts, raised campaign funds, and advised candidates. For the past 10 years, Castanares has been a delegate to the annual California Democratic Party convention and also was elected as a delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. In addition, as an Advance Team leader in 1999 and 2000 for Vice President Al Gore, he arranged White House travel events in Southern California.

“Advance team leaders coordinated all the events, security and media from the time Gore got off the plane to the time he got back on,” Castanares says. “I supervised a core group of six to 10 people and drove around with the vice president from event to event.”

Castanares’ additional community work includes serving as a founding board member on the Barrio Logan College Institute and guest speaker to high school and college classes.

“As a first generation American from a family that was never involved in politics,” he says, “I feel lucky to do what I do.”