Filemon Vela

Mr. Filemon served as a member of Congress from 2013 to 2022, representing the 34th Congressional District of Texas, and was a member of the Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture Committees.

From 2022 to 2024, he joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a Partner, where he helped clients leverage relationships and advance ambitious policy goals in areas such as commerce, energy, economic issues, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, national security, and defense issues.

In 2023, he launched the super PAC BOLD America, alongside New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and former California Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard to help elect Hispanic and Latino candidates to Congress.

Vela was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021 to serve as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. He also served as vice chair of the U.S. Delegation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—NATO—Parliamentary Assembly in 2022.

Prior to serving in Congress, Rep. Vela spent more than 20 years as a litigator in his private practice.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the University of Texas.