Charles Anthony Rodríguez-Colón (born August 26, 1954) is a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
-born
Puerto Rican politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
affiliated with the
New Progressive Party (NPP). He served as the eleventh president of the
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control t ...
from 1997 until 2000.
Early life
Charles Anthony Rodríguez-Colón was born in the Bronx, New York City on August 26, 1954. His parents decided to move the family to Puerto Rico in 1961. Charlie Rodríguez attended public schools in his adopted town of Carolina. He was elected President of his class of 1972 and graduated with honors from the Julio Vizcarrondo-Coronado High School of Carolina. He enrolled in the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
, but later transferred to
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
in New York, where he obtained the degree of
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
, majoring in Government and History, in 1976. He also attended his first year of law school at Cornell University, from which he transferred to the University of Puerto Rico Law School achieving the degree of
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
in 1983. In that same year, he was admitted to the local state bar and eventually was admitted to practice law in the federal district and appellate courts for Puerto Rico.
Political career
1970s
At the age of 13 years, Charlie Rodríguez became active in the youth chapter of the New Progressive Party (NPP), the pro-statehood party in Puerto Rico. He held different leadership positions in the statehood youth movement, at the ward, precinct and municipal levels in his hometown of Carolina.
In 1979 he was elected President of the New Progressive Party Youth State Organization. From such position Charlie Rodríguez organized the campaign among young voters to re-elect Governor
Carlos Romero Barceló
Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He al ...
. Rodríguez participated in debates and forums in universities campuses, radio and television, promoting the vision of statehood, the NPP platform and the reasons to reelect Governor Romero Barceló. The 1980 elections were decided by a small margin, the closest ever held in Puerto Rico, making the youth vote even more important.
1980s
In 1980 Charlie Rodríguez was elected State Representative At-Large. His dedication to his legislative duties led to his reelection in 1984, even though his party lost the governorship. While a member of the State House of Representatives, he assumed in 1985 the leadership of the New Progressive Party in the city of Carolina and in 1988 unsuccessfully sought the office of Mayor. However, Rodríguez obtained the highest number of votes ever achieved by a New Progressive Party candidate for Mayor in Carolina.
1990s
After four years in private legal practice, Charlie Rodríguez returned to the legislature in the elections of 1992 as a State Senator (At-Large) and was unanimously elected by his colleagues as Senate Majority Leader, in charge of steering the New Progressive Party platform and Governor
Pedro Rosselló
Pedro Juan Rosselló González, (; born April 5, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, a ...
's legislative agenda. Rodríguez was re-elected State Senator in 1996. When the Senate convened early in 1997, Rodríguez was elected by his colleagues President of the Senate of Puerto Rico.
As Senate President, Rodríguez continued pursuing the party's legislative agenda during Rosselló's second and last term as governor. He also advanced legislative initiatives on the environment, economic development, crime and social welfare.
Rodríguez sought the New Progressive Party nomination for Mayor of the Capital City of San Juan in the 1999 primary but lost to San Juan Senator Jorge Santini. Rodríguez was not able to return to the Senate in 2000 because primaries as well as the election for all elective offices in Puerto Rico take place on the same date every four years.
2000s
After polling less than 7% of the vote in the 2003 NPP primary for Resident Commissioner – the non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Puerto Rico, – Charlie Rodríguez was appointed chairman of the NPP 2004 Platform Committee by Pedro Rosselló, who was running for a third term as governor.
On August 20, 2006, during the annual Convention of the New Progressive Party, Rodríguez introduced and spearheaded the approval of the Tennessee Plan Resolution setting the strategy for Puerto Rico's admission as the 51st State of the Union. The Tennessee Plan is so named for the strategy first used by the Territory of Tennessee after Congress ignored its petitions for statehood. The people of Tennessee did not wait for Congress to approve a statehood admission act and proceeded to adopt a state constitution. They also elected two senators to serve in the U.S. Senate and one in the U.S. House of Representatives who went to Congress to demand statehood. Shortly after this bold move Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796. The plan was thereafter successfully used by the territories of Michigan, California, Oregon, Kansas, Iowa, and Alaska in their quest for statehood. Rodríguez's oratory skills prompted the NPP delegates to unanimously adopt the Tennessee Plan Resolution.
In 2007, Rodríguez announced he would once again seek the nomination for Resident Commissioner that had eluded him in 2003. He ran in the 2008 New Progressive Party primaries against former senator
Miriam Ramirez de Ferrer
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', Literal translation, lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophets in Judaism, prophetess and first ...
, who polled 6% of the vote, and former attorney general
Pedro Pierluisi
Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting
Secretary of State, i ...
, who was endorsed by current Resident Commissioner
Luis Fortuño
Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset (born 31 October 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013.
Fortuño served as the first secretary of econom ...
, and won the race with 60% of the vote, while Rodríguez polled 33% of the vote.
Rodriguez was elected Chairman of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico on February 7, 2017. It was the first time in 30 years that an advocate for statehood for Puerto Rico was elected chairman. Although his election was challenged, the DNC dismissed the challenge and upheld Rodriguez election. He was re-elected Chairman in an open election held on November 21, 2020 with 93% of the votes cast.
Charlie Rodríguez remains active in public discussions on government and political issues particularly concerning Statehood for Puerto Rico
References
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control t ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Charlie
1954 births
Cornell University alumni
Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians
Living people
New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians
Politicians from New York City
Presidents of the Senate of Puerto Rico