Sara Rodriguez (born July 25, 1975) is an American registered nurse, health care executive, and Democratic politician. She is the 46th and incumbent

lieutenant governor of Wisconsin The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to ...

, having been elected on a ticket with Governor

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2009 ...

in the 2022 election. She previously served in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, representing the 13th Assembly district during the 2021 session.

Early life and education

Rodriguez was born and raised in the Milwaukee metropolitan area in southeast

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. She graduated from

Brookfield East High School Brookfield East High School is a four-year public secondary school located in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The school is part of the Elmbrook School District, and is accredited by the North Central Association. Its rival is Brookfield Central High ...

and earned her

B.A. 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 yea ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

from

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockford ...

. Immediately after college, she volunteered with the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

and was sent to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, where she remained for two years. During that time she also volunteered with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

. After returning to the United States, she went on to continue her education at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, where she earned 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 ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

Healthcare career

She worked for two years as a registered nurse in the emergency department at the Mercy Medical Center in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, then went to work for the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

in their

Epidemic Intelligence Service The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work. History Creation ...

from 2004 to 2006. 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 The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government responsible for public health and environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all liv ...

, 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.

Political career

In 2020, Rodriguez declared that she would be a candidate for

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 and was unopposed in 2014 and 2016. Despite the redistricting plan, the 13th district had moved back toward Democrats—like several other suburban districts—over the course of the

Trump presidency Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

. Hutton was in his fourth term in 2020 and had narrowly won re-election in 2018 with a margin of just 955 votes. 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 The global COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. state of Wisconsin in early February 2020. Although Wisconsin has to date experienced 144 deaths per 100,000 residents, significantly fewer than the US national average of 196 deaths, COVID-19 was one ...

. She stated that, "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." Rodriguez prevailed in the November general election, winning the seat by 735 votes. She was one of only two candidates in Wisconsin to defeat an incumbent in the 2020 general election. Her seat, which had been redistricted to remove more liberal portions of Wauwatosa, was taken by Republican Tom Michalski in the

2022 Wisconsin State Assembly election The Wisconsin State Assembly elections of 2022 were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. All 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly were up for election. This was the first election to take place after redistricting following the 2020 United ...

Personal life and family

Rodriguez is married with two children and resides in

Brookfield, Wisconsin Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States in the Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeast ...

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2020)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 2020

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor (2022)

Democratic Primary

General

References

External links

* *
Campaign website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Sara 1975 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American women nurses Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people Illinois Wesleyan University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Lieutenant Governors of Wisconsin Living people Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Peace Corps volunteers People from Brookfield, Wisconsin Women state legislators in Wisconsin