Rachel Rodriguez-Williams
{{Short description|Wyoming politician}}
{{About|the politician|other people|Rachel Williams (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| party = Republican
| education = Sonoma State University (BA)
Columbia Southern University (MS)
| state_house = Wyoming
| district = 50th
| term_start = January 4, 2021
| predecessor = David Northrup
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1978|2|14}}
}}
Rachel Rodriguez-Williams is an American Republican politician and businesswoman serving as a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from the 50th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 4, 2021.
Early life and education
A native of Northern California, 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.{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Zac|title=ELECTION: Cody woman sole candidate for House District 50 seat|url=https://www.codyenterprise.com/news/local/article_b78692a6-ab50-11ea-bf5b-13b8f3bfd3ea.html|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Cody Enterprise|language=en}}
Career
Rodriguez-Williams worked as a law enforcement officer in Marin County. She moved to Cody, Wyoming in 2007.
Political career
After David Northrup 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, Heart Mountain, Sunlight, Crandall, the Willwood area south of Powell, and the eastern part of the Cody.{{Cite web|url=https://www.powelltribune.com/stories/rodriguez-williams-cruises-to-win-in-state-house,27895|title = Rodriguez-Williams cruises to win in state house}}
Rodriguez-Williams was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives in November 2020 and assumed office on January 4, 2021.{{Cite web|title=Rachel Rodriguez-Williams|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Rachel_Rodriguez-Williams|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Ballotpedia|language=en}}
= 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.{{Cite web|title=Suicide prevention training bill advances in legislature|url=https://www.wyomingnewsnow.tv/2021/03/21/suicide-prevention-training-bill-advances-in-legislature/|access-date=2021-08-23|website=www.wyomingnewsnow.tv|language=en}} However, the bill died in the house.{{Cite web|last1=Burcham|first1=Connie|last2=Baker|first2=C. J.|title=Representatives saw ups and downs during legislative session|url=https://www.powelltribune.com/stories/representatives-saw-ups-and-downs-during-legislative-session,30875|access-date=2021-08-23|website=Powell Tribune|language=en}}
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. However, the bill failed in the house on a vote of 14–46, and the building was instead named after Thyra Thomson, who served as the Secretary of State of Wyoming from 1963 to 1987. The building is expected to be completed by Autumn 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://oilcity.news/wyoming/legislature/2021/03/19/new-state-building-in-casper-first-to-be-named-after-a-woman-in-wyoming/|title = New state building in Casper to become first named after a woman in Wyoming|date = 19 March 2021}}
In 2023, Rodriguez-Williams sponsored H.B.{{nbsp}}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".{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=David W. |last2=Belluck |first2=Pam |title=Wyoming Becomes First State to Outlaw Abortion Pills |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17/us/wyoming-abortion-pills-ban.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 17, 2023}} The new law attempts to circumvent an interpretation of the Wyoming Constitution that protects citizens' "right to make one's own health care decisions",{{cite news |last1=Pierson |first1=Brendan |title=Judge blocks Wyoming abortion ban from taking effect amid legal challenge |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/judge-blocks-wyoming-abortion-ban-taking-effect-amid-legal-challenge-2022-08-10/ |work=Reuters |date=August 10, 2022}} stating that "[i]nstead of being health care, abortion is the intentional termination of the life of an unborn baby."{{cite web |title=HB0152 - Life is a Human Right Act |url=https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2023/HB0152 |publisher=Wyoming Legislature |access-date=18 March 2023}}
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
{{Wyoming House of Representatives}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez-Williams, Rachel}}
Category:21st-century American women politicians
Category:21st-century members of the Wyoming Legislature
Category:American police officers
Category:American politicians of Mexican descent
Category:Cannabis law reform in the United States
Category:Columbia Southern University alumni
Category:Latino conservatism in the United States
Category:Law enforcement officials from California
Category:People from Cody, Wyoming
Category:People from Marin County, California
Category:Republican Party members of the Wyoming House of Representatives
Category:Sonoma State University alumni
Category:Women state legislators in Wyoming
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