Yesenia Edelmira "Jessie" Rodriguez ( Garay born July 5, 1977) is a

Salvadoran American Salvadoran Americans ( or ) are Americans of full or partial El Salvador, Salvadoran descent. As of 2021, there are 2,473,947 Salvadoran Americans in the United States, the Hispanic and Latino Americans#National origin, third-largest Hispanic ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

and Republican politician from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She is a member of 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. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

, representing Wisconsin's 21st Assembly district since December 2013. She is the first Hispanic immigrant elected to the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...

Early life and education

Jessie Rodriguez was born Yesenia Edelmira Garay, on July 5, 1977, in the

Usulután Department Usulután (; from the Nawat language, meaning "city of the ocelots") is a Departments of El Salvador, department of El Salvador in the southeast of the country (Lenca region). The capital is Usulután. Created on June 22, 1865, it is El Salvado ...

, El Salvador. As a child, in 1984, she emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with her family, eventually settling in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. She graduated from Milwaukee's Alexander Hamilton High School in 1996 and went on to attend Milwaukee's

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

where she earned her

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

in communications in 2002. 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 School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to traditional public schools. School choice options include scholarship tax credit programs, open enrollment laws (which allow students to att ...

Political career

Her prominent role in the

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

movement in

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

made Rodriguez a close political ally of Republican county executive and later governor Scott Walker. 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. 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. 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. In its configuration at that time, the 21st Assembly district was considered competitive but slightly Republican-leaning—Republican presidential nominee

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

had edged out

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the 2012 general election by two percentage points in the district. Rodriguez slightly overperformed that benchmark in her special election, defeating Democrat Elizabeth Coppola with 56% of the vote. She was sworn in as a member of the

on December 4, 2013. 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. 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. In 2024, Wisconsin underwent a significant

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

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.

Personal life and family

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

Electoral history

References

External links

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Official website

Representative Jessie Rodriguez (2023)
at

Hispanics for School Choice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Jessie 1977 births Living people People from Usulután Department People from Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin People from Oak Creek, Wisconsin Politicians from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Salvadoran emigrants to the United States Marquette University alumni Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Latino conservatism in the United States Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Wisconsin Hispanic and Latino American women in politics American politicians of Salvadoran descent Women state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature