Carlos Sanchez: Chief of staff, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)

Carlos Sanchez has been moonlighting as a Capitol Hill recruiter for two decades.

Sanchez has risen from communications staffer to chief of staff, now for Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and he has served stints with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and as an executive director of the House Democratic Caucus.

During that time, his mentees have become mentors themselves, growing a family tree of Latino staffers throughout the Capitol whose careers were boosted — directly or indirectly — by Sanchez.

In 2006, while working for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Sanchez returned to Texas A&M International University in Laredo, his alma mater, with pamphlets for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the CHC’s internship and development program.

“I got a little frustrated because, hey dude, there's a whole school there, like 6,000 students, 95 percent are Latino, and like, nobody's talking [about CHCI],” Sanchez said.

“I was home for something, and I went to all my old professors, and was like, ‘Hey, I got this thing. Can you give me 15 minutes in class?’ And most professors were like, ‘Dude, take the class.’”

Sanchez’s recruits — and for a time, housemates — included his brother Juan, who in 2022 was confirmed by the Senate as federal co-chair of the Southwest Border Regional Commission; Carlos Paz, now chief of staff to Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.); and Jorge Aguilar, who worked a decade in the House — including for Pelosi — before moving on to K Street.

Sanchez, whose first job was unloading trucks and rail cars at Laredo’s cold storage facility, advises younger staffers to be ready to pounce when opportunities come along.

“The first thing I think of is just how fortunate and lucky I am, and that's not to take away from the work and getting prepared and stuff. Because, you know, an opportunity is only opportunity if you prepare for it,” he said.