Rachel Rodriguez-Williams is an American Republican politician and businesswoman serving as a member of the

Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming State Legislature. There are 60 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state, each with a population of ...

from the 50th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 4, 2021.

Early life and education

A native of

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, Rodriguez-Williams earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and law enforcement administration from Sonoma State University and a Master of Science in criminal justice from Columbia Southern University.

Career

Rodriguez-Williams worked as a law enforcement officer in

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

. She moved to Cody, Wyoming in 2007.

Political career

After

David Northrup David Northrup (born March 6, 1961, in Laramie, Wyoming) is an American politician and Republican Party member of the Wyoming House of Representatives representing the 25th district since January 10, 2023. Northrup represented the 50th district i ...

chose not to run again, Rodriguez-Williams and Johnson Bennett ran against each other. Rodriguez-Williams received 4,370 votes (77%), while Bennett only received 1,240 votes (22%). The district encompasses the cities of

Ralston Ralston may refer to: Place names United States *Ralston, California *Ralston, Iowa *Ralston, Nebraska *Ralston, Oklahoma *Ralston, Wyoming *Mount Ralston in the Sierra Nevada of California *Ralston Creek (Colorado) *Ralston Hall, Belmont, Califor ...

, Heart Mountain, Sunlight, Crandall, the Willwood area south of

Powell Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders *Governor Powell (di ...

, and the eastern part of the

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...

. Rodriguez-Williams was elected to the

in November 2020 and assumed office on January 4, 2021.

Tenure

Rodriguez-Williams sponsored House Bill 175, which would have required school districts to provide suicide awareness and prevention programs to Wyoming students grades six through 12. However, the bill died in the house. While a state-owned office building was being constructed in Casper, Rodriguez-Williams voted in favor of a bill that would've named the building after former Wyoming representative

John S. Wold John Schiller Wold (August 31, 1916 – February 19, 2017) was an American business executive, philanthropist, World War II veteran, and Republican politician from Wyoming. He served a single term in the United States House of Representatives fro ...

. However, the bill failed in the house on a vote of 14–46, and the building was instead named after

Thyra Thomson Thyra Godfrey Thomson (July 30, 1916 – June 11, 2013) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Wyoming, who served as a Republican as the Wyoming Secretary of State from 1963 to 1987. Background Thyra Godfrey Thomson was born on J ...

, who served as the Secretary of State of Wyoming from 1963 to 1987. The building is expected to be completed by Autumn 2021. In 2023, Rodriguez-Williams sponsored H.B.152, the Life Is a Human Right Act, which would make surgical and medication-assisted abortions illegal. She said that "other states are pushing an extreme abortion agenda, comparable to North Korea's and China's inhumane laws". The new law attempts to circumvent an interpretation of the

Wyoming Constitution The Wyoming Constitution is the supreme governing document of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It was approved by a statewide vote of 6,272 to 1,923 on November 5, 1889. It was last amended in 2008. It was the first constitution in the United States which ...

that protects citizens' "right to make one's own health care decisions", stating that " stead of being health care, abortion is the intentional termination of the life of an unborn baby." Rodriguez-Williams is also a member of WYCAN, Wyoming Citizens Against Normalization, a group that is dedicated to the prohibition of cannabis products in Wyoming. https://www.powelltribune.com/stories/group-forms-in-park-county-to-counteract-marijuana-normalization,90201

References

Living people People from Marin County, California Sonoma State University alumni Columbia Southern University alumni Republican Party members of the Wyoming House of Representatives People from Cody, Wyoming Women state legislators in Wyoming 21st-century American women American politicians of Mexican descent Latino conservatism in the United States 1978 births {{Wyoming-politician-stub