The Democratic Party chose Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, to make a prime time, high profile, keynote address at their national convention. The convention starts September 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina and Castro will make his address on the first night of the convention. It is the first time a Hispanic has been chosen to deliver a key address for the Democratic Party at their convention.

Castro is just 37 and the youngest mayor of any large major city in the U.S. President Obama and the Democrats are relying on support from the Hispanics in important states such as Nevada, Colorado and Florida. The race is currently deadlocked with just over three months left until the November 6 election day. However, the polls indicate Obama’s lead is substantial over his challenger Mitt Romney with Hispanic voters.

Both parties will hold their conventions in the latter part of the summer, which will set the tone for a heated battle during the fall prior to the election. Obama accepts his party’s nomination in Charlotte, North Carolina during the first week of September, while Romney will precede him a week earlier in Tampa, Florida.

Castro, as one of the keynote speakers, will step into a similar role that helped propel Obama into the political spotlight nationally. Obama was a state lawmaker who was little known outside of Illinois who was running for the U.S. Senate, when he was chosen to make a keynote speech in 2004 at the national convention that drew praise from many Democrats.

Castro in announcing his choice as a speaker argued Obama’s case for reelection by saying the president has started to turn the economy around.