Filemon Vela Jr.

Early life and education

Vela was born in Harlingen, Texas, and raised in nearby Brownsville. His father, Filemon Vela Sr., was a long-serving United States federal judge. The Reynaldo G. Garza–Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse in Brownsville is named in Judge Vela's honor. His mother, Blanca Sanchez Vela, served as Brownsville's first female mayor from 1999 to 2003.

Filemon attended Saint Joseph Academy in Brownsville, and earned his Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University in 1985. During his time at Georgetown, he served as an intern at the Federal Judicial Center, the research and education agency of the federal judicial system. He also served as an intern in Solomon P. Ortiz's office in Washington, D.C. Vela earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1987.

Career

In Edinburg School District v. Landmark, Vela represented Edinburg to fight for more funding. In Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District v. Landmark, he represented the district in fighting contractors accused of building a poorly constructed school facility.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012

Main article: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#District 34

Vela ran in the newly created 34th congressional district as a Democrat. In the May 29 primary, he ranked first in an eight-candidate field with 40% of the vote. In the July 31 runoff, Vela defeated Denise Saenz Blanchard, 67% to 33%.

In the general election, Vela defeated Republican Jessica Bradshaw, 62% to 36%.

Tenure

In July 2013, Vela quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus because of his opposition to the Hoeven-Corker Amendment that tied border security to a pathway to citizenship. He said "erecting more border fence drives a wedge between border communities which are culturally united".

On March 22, 2021, Vela announced that he would not seek reelection in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections.

In August 2021, Vela 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.

On March 24, 2022, Vela confirmed that he would resign early from Congress to take a job at Akin Gump, a lobbying and law firm. His resignation officially went into effect before midnight on March 31.

Committee assignments

Source:

• Committee on Agriculture
  • Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
  • Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development, and Credit
• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces.

Caucus memberships

• Blue Dog Coalition
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus
• Veterinary Medicine Caucus
• U.S.-Japan Caucus

Personal life

Vela's wife, Rose, was a Republican justice on Texas's 13th Court of Appeals from 2007 to 2012.

Vela is Roman Catholic.

References

References

1. Hopkins, Christopher Snow. "Texas, 34th House District". nationaljournal.com.
2. (January 15, 2021). "Biden Taps Jaime Harrison, Former Senate Candidate, to Lead DNC". Wall Street Journal.
3. Livingston, Abby. (March 24, 2022). "U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela will resign early from Congress". [[The Texas Tribune]].
4. Livingston, Abby. (March 31, 2022). "U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela steps down, setting up a heated battle for his South Texas district". [[The Texas Tribune]].
5. vela.house.gov
6. Johnson, Ty. (2014-02-18). "Former Brownsville mayor, feminist 'trailblazer' Blanca Vela dies at 78". [[The Monitor (Texas)]].
7. (2014-02-19). "Brownsville's former and only female mayor, Blanca Vela, passes away". [[KVEO]].
8. "Full Biography". Vela.house.gov.
9. "Ourcampaigns.com". Ourcampaigns.com.
10. "Ourcampaigns.com". Ourcampaigns.com.
11. http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/july31_163_state.htm {{Dead link. (February 2022)
12. (December 2019). "TX-TopRaces-Glance-Sum". kxxv.com.
13. Martin, Gary. (2013-07-02). "Rep. Filemon Vela quits Congressional Hispanic Caucus to protest lawmakers' acceptance of border 'militarization' - Texas on the Potomac". Blog.chron.com.
14. (2013-07-02). "Filemon Vela quits Hispanic caucus over border surge - Seung Min Kim". Politico.Com.
15. Nichols, Hans. (March 22, 2021). "Rep. Filemon Vela to retire from House ahead of Texas redistricting".
16. (2021-08-25). "Cracks Emerge in Josh Gottheimer's "Unbreakable Nine"". Theintercept.com.
17. (August 24, 2021). "Opinion | The 9 Democrats Making Nancy Pelosi's Life Harder Are Making a Big Mistake - The New York Times". [[The New York Times]].
18. "About".
19. (March 11, 2015). "Blue Dog Members Welcome Representative Filemon Vela to Coalition". Blue Dog Coalition.
20. "Members". Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
21. "Members". Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus.
22. "Members of the Veterinary Medicine Caucus". Veterinary Medicine Caucus.
23. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus.
24. Sanchez, Humberto. "113th Congress: Filemon Vela, D-Texas (34th District)". Congressional Quarterly, Inc..
25. (2017-01-03). "Religious affiliation of members of 115th Congress". [[Pew Research Center]].