Jessie Rodriguez

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Jessie Rodriguez
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 21st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 4, 2013
Preceded byMark Honadel
Personal details
BornYesenia Edelmira Garay
(1977-07-05) July 5, 1977 (age 48)
Puerto El Triunfo, El Salvador
PartyRepublican
SpouseAaron M. Rodriguez
Children1
ResidenceOak Creek, Wisconsin
Alma materMarquette University (BA)
OccupationPublic relations, politician
WebsiteOfficial website

Yesenia Edelmira "Jessie" Rodriguez (née Garay born July 5, 1977) is a Salvadoran American immigrant and Republican politician from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 21st Assembly district since December 2013. She is the first Hispanic immigrant elected to the Wisconsin Legislature.

Early life and education

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Jessie Rodriguez was born Yesenia Edelmira Garay, on July 5, 1977, in the Usulután Department, El Salvador. As a child, in 1984, she emigrated to the United States with her family, eventually settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[1] She graduated from Milwaukee's Alexander Hamilton High School in 1996 and went on to attend Milwaukee's Marquette University where she earned her bachelor's degree in communications in 2002.[2] After graduating college, Jessie worked as an analyst for a large supermarket chain, but eventually landed a job as a communications outreach coordinator for Hispanics for School Choice.[3]

Political career

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Her prominent role in the school voucher movement in Milwaukee County made Rodriguez a close political ally of Republican county executive and later governor Scott Walker.[4]

When the Republican Legislature drew up their redistricting plan following the 2010 U.S. census, the 21st state Assembly district—then comprising the cities of Oak Creek and South Milwaukee—was slightly adjusted, adding just a few blocks of the neighboring city of Franklin. Those few blocks of Franklin contained the home where Rodriguez then resided.[5][6]

In August 2013, the state representative in Rodriguez's new district, Mark Honadel, announced he would resign in the middle of his term to take a job in the private sector.[7] Governor Walker called a special election in the 21st district seat, to serve out the remainder of the 2013–2014 term. Rodriguez won the special Republican primary for the seat in October, taking 48% of the vote against a field of four opponents.[8] In its configuration at that time, the 21st Assembly district was considered competitive but slightly Republican-leaning—Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had edged out Barack Obama in the 2012 general election by two percentage points in the district.[4] Rodriguez slightly overperformed that benchmark in her special election, defeating Democrat Elizabeth Coppola with 56% of the vote.[9]

She was sworn in as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly on December 4, 2013.[10][11][12] She was re-elected without opposition at the 2014 general election and joined the Assembly Republican caucus leadership team in the 2015–2016 term as majority caucus secretary.[13] She was comfortably re-elected in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022. In the 2021–2022 legislative term, Rodriguez stepped down from her caucus leadership position and was appointed to a coveted seat on the Joint Finance Committee; Joint Finance is considered the most powerful committee in the state legislature, whose 16 members oversee all of the state's appropriations and revenues.[14][15][16]

In 2024, Wisconsin underwent a significant redistricting which undid the Republican partisan advantage that had existed in the state since 2011. Rodriguez's district was significantly affected as the more Republican leaning areas of Franklin were removed from the district and replaced with more Democratic leaning wards from the southern reaches of the city of Milwaukee. The neighboring Democratic-leaning city of South Milwaukee was also removed from the district. Under the new maps, she won re-election for the 21st Assembly district with 51.4% of the vote, making it one of the most politically competitive districts in the State Assembly.[17][18][19][20]

Personal life and family

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Jessie Garay took the last name Rodriguez when she married Aaron Rodriguez. They have one child and reside in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.[1]

Electoral history

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2013
(special) 		Special
Primary[8] 		Oct. 22 Jessie Rodriguez Republican 1,513 47.82% Chris Kujawa Rep. 866 27.37% 3,164 647
Ken Gehl Rep. 536 16.94%
Larry Gamble Rep. 170 5.37%
Jason Red Arnold Rep. 73 2.31%
Special[9] Nov. 19 Jessie Rodriguez Republican 4,557 56.40% Elizabeth Coppola Dem. 3,523 43.60% 8,080 1,034
2014 General[21] Nov. 4 Jessie Rodriguez (inc.) Republican 16,051 96.54% --unopposed-- 16,626 15,476
2016 General[22] Nov. 8 Jessie Rodriguez (inc.) Republican 16,589 59.30% Jack Redmond Dem. 11,338 40.53% 27,975 5,251
2018 General[23] Nov. 6 Jessie Rodriguez (inc.) Republican 14,280 54.66% Gabriel A. Gomez Dem. 11,806 45.19% 26,123 2,474
2020 General[24] Nov. 3 Jessie Rodriguez (inc.) Republican 17,729 54.61% Erik Brooks Dem. 14,708 45.3% 32,466 3,021
2022 General[25] Nov. 8 Jessie Rodriguez (inc.) Republican 13,712 54.18% Nathan M. Jurowski Dem. 11,580 45.75% 25,309 2,132
2024 General[20] Nov. 5 Jessie Rodriguez (inc.) Republican 16,923 51.27% David L. Marstellar Dem. 15,993 48.45% 33,009 930

References

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  18. ^ 2024 Wisconsin General Elections Results - State Assembly District 21
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