After returning to the United States,she continued her education at Johns Hopkins University,where she earned a bachelor's degree and master's degrees in public health and nursing.[3]
In 2006 she moved to Colorado and worked as associate director of nursing at the Tri-County Health Department,serving Adams,Arapahoe,and Douglas Counties. In 2009 she was appointed Chronic Disease Branch Director in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment,under Governor Bill Ritter.
In 2011,she returned to Wisconsin and was employed as Vice President of Clinical and Analytical Services at The Benefit Services Group,Inc.,until 2014. She then worked three years as Vice President of Clinical Services at Honeywell Life Care Solutions. From 2017 until her campaign for the Assembly in 2020,she was vice president for Population Health and Integrated Care Management at Advocate Aurora Health.[3]
Political career
Rodriguez with Governor Tony Evers at a rally,2022.
In 2020,Rodriguez declared that she would be a candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly in the 13th assembly district,challenging incumbent Republican Rob Hutton. Hutton was first elected after the Republican redistricting in 2012,which made the 13th district significantly more Republican—Hutton carried the district with 60% of the vote in 2012[4] and was unopposed in 2014 and 2016.[5] Despite the redistricting plan,the 13th district had moved back toward Democrats—like several other suburban districts—during Trump's presidency. Hutton was in his fourth term in 2020 and had won reelection in 2018 by a margin of just 955 votes.[6]
Rodriguez said she was inspired to run by Republican inaction around the 2020 spring election,which occurred during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin. She said,"when the Republican-led Legislature made people choose between their health and right to vote in the spring election,I just felt my background in health care and epidemiology would be helpful."[6] Rodriguez prevailed in the November general election,winning the seat by 735 votes.[7] She was one of only two candidates in Wisconsin to defeat an incumbent in the 2020 general election.[8]
In July 2021,the Democratic incumbent lieutenant governor,Mandela Barnes,announced he would run for U.S. Senate rather than running for another term as lieutenant governor. That fall,Rodriguez announced that she would run for lieutenant governor in 2022,highlighting her experience as a public health professional and small business owner,and her perspective as a political outsider. Initially,it appeared she would face a primary against veteran state senator Lena Taylor,but Taylor withdrew from the race before the end of the year. Instead,her opponent in the Democratic primary was Peng Her,a leader of the Wisconsin Hmong community making his third bid for elected office.[9] Rodriguez secured significant support from Democratic lawmakers and organizations,[10] and went on to win the primary with 76% of the vote.[11] By winning the primary,Rodriguez joined the ticket led by Democratic incumbent governor Tony Evers;she campaigned actively in support of Evers,traveling extensively around the state. Evers and Rodriguez won the general election,defeating the Republican ticket of businessman Tim Michels and Roger Roth.[12] She was sworn in as lieutenant governor on January3,2023,taking her oath of office from chief justice Annette Ziegler.[13]
Since becoming lieutenant governor,Rodriguez has kept up a significant schedule of events around the state,and has been an active campaigner for other Democratic Party candidates and causes. She also started a Leadership PAC focused on supporting candidates in favor of Medicaid expansion and other healthcare causes.[14] She was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention and had a speaking slot on the convention's first day.[15] Among the Wisconsin political press,Rodriguez is considered a likely candidate for governor in 2026 if Governor Evers does not run for a third term.[16]
Italics indicate next-in-line of succession for states and territories without a directly elected lieutenant governor or whose lieutenant governor office is vacant:
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