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There’s lots of chatter and speculation lately about whether Texas Governor Rick Perry will jump into the 2012 race for presidency. But another intriguing question is this: What’s next for San Antonio Mayor Julián (“WHO-lee-on,” not “JOO-lee-un”) Castro?

Castro is only 36 years old, grew up in a politically active family and is part of the rapidly growing Hispanic demographic. There’s little doubt that he will eventually seek higher office than the one he now holds. He’s been carefully nurturing a national profile - he met with President Obama and other senior administration staff to discuss jobs and green energy initiatives, and even bantered with comedian Stephen Colbert on TV. It’s no secret that Castro is, as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood put it, “on the radar” in Washington, a rising star with huge potential in the Democratic Party.

Every young, charismatic Hispanic politician in San Antonio sooner or later is compared to the legendary Henry Cisneros. Like Castro, Cisneros is a native San Antonian with an elite education and truckloads of political savvy. But while Cisneros has a Bill Clinton-like ability to energize a room, Castro is “cerebral, serious, self-contained and highly efficient,” according to the New York Times after one of the young mayor’s visits to Washington. “If he were an energy source, he’d be zero-emission.”

Castro was considered a possible contender for the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, but decided to pass. He easily cruised to re-election as mayor this past spring and could remain in the mayor’s office through 2017. Countless opportunities higher up the political food chain, including a possible Perry presidential run, could open up a number of statewide offices for a Castro run. An appointment to a high-level post by the next president is also a distinct possibility.

But whatever turns the political roller coaster takes in the upcoming years, look for Julián Castro to emerge as a major player.