Liza Fernández Rodríguez (born July 23, 1973) is a Puerto Rican attorney and

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 (PNP). Fernández was a member of the

House of Representatives of Puerto Rico The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico ( es, Cámara de Representantes de Puerto Rico) is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral state legislature (United States), territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. ...

from 2005 to 2012, and 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 th ...

from 2012 to 2013. In December 2012, after her electoral defeat, Fernández was confirmed as a Superior Judge. Fernández is married to Guaynabo ex-mayor

Angel Pérez Otero Ángel Pérez Otero (born September 18, 1970) is a Puerto Rican politician, and former mayor of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives from 2005 to 2012. Pérez was first elected to the House of Repre ...

Early years and studies

Liza Fernández was born and raised in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. In 1995, she completed a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in communications from the

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic un ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

, meaning "with great honor". She was also included in the National Dean's List for her academic excellence. That same year, she was admitted to the Faculty of Law of the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law ( es, links=no, Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico) is the school of law of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corpor ...

. She completed her law degree in 1998.

Professional career

After graduating, Fernández worked as part of the

U.S. Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...

Disaster Assistance Group. Since 2001, Fernández has worked as an attorney for the city of San Juan, as Coordinator of the Contract Division in the Office of Legal Affairs.

Political career

In 2003, Fernández decided to run for the

to represent District 4. She was elected at the 2004 general election. After one term, she was reelected in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. During her time as a Representative, she was Chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee and the Joint Commissions for the Revision of the Civil and Penal Codes. She was also a member of the Treasury, San Juan Development, Labor Relations, and Women's Affairs Committees. In 2011, Fernández confirmed her intention of running for the seat left vacant by

Roberto Arango Roberto Arango-Vinent is an American politician who served in the Senate of Puerto Rico from January 2005 until August 2011 representing the San Juan district for the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (NPP), which is a conservative group der ...

in the

. After being elected in a Special Election held in March 2012, Fernández became president of the Commission of Commerce and Cooperativism, as well as member of the Commissions of Government, and Woman's Affairs. Fernández ran for reelection to the Senate at the 2012 general election, but was defeated by the candidates of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). In December 2012, Fernández was confirmed as a Superior Judge by the

Personal life

Fernández married fellow representative

in 2006. They have two daughters together: Valeria Angélica (b. 2007) and Lorena Angeliz (b. 2008).

References

External links

Liza Fernández Profile
on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-language Independent station (North America), independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by :es:Hemisphere Media Group, Hemisphere Media Group, w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Rodriguez, Liza 1973 births Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Living people New Progressive Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican women in politics 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians