Eduardo Rene Rodriguez (born July 1, 1971) is an American politician served as a member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

for the 51st district. Elected in November 2002, he assumed office in January 2003 and left office in 2023.

Early life and education

Rodriguez was born and raised in Rio Grande Valley, where he graduated from

McAllen Memorial High School McAllen Memorial High School is one of five high schools serving the McAllen, Texas area as a part of the McAllen Independent School District. It houses over 2,000 students from grades 9-12. Prior to the establishment of Memorial High School, th ...

. He studied government at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

and earned his Juris Doctor in 2008 from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

Career

Before serving in the legislature, Rodriguez was an aide to state representative

Glen Maxey Glen Maxey (born February 23, 1952) is an American politician from Austin, Texas, who was the first openly gay member of the Texas Legislature. Active in the fight for gay rights, Maxey was a central figure in the establishment of facilities for ...

. On February 18, 2020, State Senator

Kirk Watson Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

of the 14th Senate district announced his intention to resign. On March 7, 2020, Rodriguez became the first candidate to launch a campaign for the seat. On June 4, 2020, Rodriguez reported to the Texas Ethics Commission that his campaign raised $410,003.64, including donations from Valero PAC ($1,000), Chevron Employees PAC ($1,500), Marathon Oil Company Employees PAC ($2,000), NRG Energy PAC ($2,000), and ONCOR Texas State PAC ($3,500). He faced five other candidates in the special election scheduled for July 14, 2020, and finished in a distant second, behind fellow Democrat

Sarah Eckhardt Sarah Eckhardt (born 1968) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Texas. She is a member of the Texas Senate and a former county judge for Travis County, Texas. Early life Eckhardt is the daughter of Bob Eckhardt, a Democratic ...

. On November 4, 2021, Rodriguez filed with the Federal Election Commission to declare his candidacy for

Texas's 35th congressional district Texas's 35th congressional district is a district that was created as a result of the 2010 United States census. The first candidates ran in the 2012 House elections and were seated for the 113th United States Congress. This election was won by ...

. Rodriguez received criticism after publishing a mailer addressing opponent Greg Casar's efforts to reduce homelessness in Austin. Rodriguez finished second after Casar in the March 1, 2022 Democratic primary for the seat, receiving 15.6% of the vote to Casar’s 61.3%.

References

External links

Biography
at Ballotpedia
Legislative page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Eddie Living people Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas 1971 births People from McAllen, Texas Politicians from Austin, Texas University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni 21st-century American politicians University of Texas School of Law alumni Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections