Sara Rodriguez

Rodriguez was born and raised in the Milwaukee metropolitan area in southeast Wisconsin. She graduated from Brookfield East High School and earned her B.A. in neuroscience from Illinois Wesleyan University. Immediately after college, she volunteered with the Peace Corps and was sent to Samoa, where she served for two years. During that time she also volunteered with the World Health Organization.{{cite web|url= https://sisterdistrict.com/rodriguez-interview/ |title= An Interview with Sara Rodriguez |work= Sister District Project |first= Oscar |last= Tu |date= October 5, 2020 |accessdate= December 12, 2020 }}

After returning to the United States, she continued her education at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a bachelor's degree and master's degrees in public health and nursing.{{cite web|url= https://www.saraforwi.com/ |title= Sara Rodriguez State Assembly |website= Sara Rodriguez State Assembly |accessdate= December 12, 2020 }}

Rodriguez worked for two years as a registered nurse in the emergency department at the Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, then went to work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their Epidemic Intelligence Service 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, 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.

File:Tony Evers and Sara Rodriguez, 2022 (52428074130).jpg at a rally, 2022.]]

In 2020, Rodriguez declared that she would be a candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly 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{{cite report|url= https://elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/Amended%20Percentage%20Results-11.6.12%20President.pdf |title= Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election – 11/6/2012 |date= December 26, 2012 |publisher= Wisconsin Government Accountability Board |page= 11 |accessdate= December 13, 2020 }} and was unopposed in 2014 and 2016.{{cite report|url= https://elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/Statewide%20Results%20All%20Offices%20%28post-Presidential%20recount%29.pdf |title= Canvass Results for 2016 General Election – 11/8/2016 |date= December 22, 2016 |publisher= Wisconsin Elections Commission |page= 11 |accessdate= December 13, 2020 }} Despite the redistricting plan, the 13th district had moved back toward Democrats—like several other suburban districts—during Trump's presidency. Hutton was in his fourth term in 2020 and had won reelection in 2018 by a margin of just 955 votes.{{cite news|url= https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/30/republicans-play-defense-traditionally-safe-milwaukee-suburbs/6039976002/ |title= Democrats have Republicans on the defensive in the traditionally conservative Milwaukee suburbs |newspaper= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date= October 30, 2020 |first1= Molly |last1= Beck |first2= Patrick |last2= Marley |accessdate= December 13, 2020 }}

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. She said, "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.{{cite report| url=https://elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/Statewide%20Results%20All%20Offices%20%28pre-Presidential%20recount%29.pdf |title= Canvass Results for 2020 General Election – 11/3/2020 |publisher= Wisconsin Elections Commission |date= November 18, 2020 |accessdate= December 9, 2020 |page= 10}} She was one of only two candidates in Wisconsin to defeat an incumbent in the 2020 general election.{{cite news|url= https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/03/wisconsin-senate-assembly-elections-legislature-seats-play-results-darling-plotkin-ott-andraca/6120968002/ |title= Preliminary results from Wisconsin legislative races show Democrats flip two Assembly seats, Republicans flip two Senate seats |newspaper= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |first= Molly |last= Beck |date= November 3, 2020 |accessdate= December 13, 2020 }}

In July 2021, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes announced he would run for U.S. Senate rather than for another term as lieutenant governor. That fall, Rodriguez announced that she would run for lieutenant governor in 2022, highlighting her experience as a public health professional and small business owner, and her perspective as a political outsider. Initially, it appeared that she would face State Senator Lena Taylor in the Democratic primary, but Taylor withdrew from the race before the end of the year. Instead, Rodriguez faced Peng Her, a leader of the Wisconsin Hmong community making his third bid for elected office.{{cite news|url= https://madison365.com/peng-her-announces-candidacy-for-wisconsin-lieutenant-governor/ |title= Peng Her announces candidacy for Wisconsin lieutenant governor |first= David |last= Dahmer |date= December 17, 2021 |work = Madison365 |accessdate= February 14, 2025 }} Rodriguez secured significant support from Democratic lawmakers and organizations,{{cite news|url= https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2022/08/06/murphys-law-everyone-wants-to-be-lt-governor/ |title= Everyone Wants to Be Lt. Governor |first= Bruce |last= Murphy |date= August 6, 2022 |work= Urban Milwaukee |accessdate= February 14, 2025 }} and won the primary with 76% of the vote. By winning the primary, Rodriguez joined the ticket led by incumbent governor Tony Evers; she actively campaigned for Evers, traveling extensively around the state. Evers and Rodriguez won the general election, defeating Republican nominees Tim Michels and Roger Roth. Rodriguez was sworn in as lieutenant governor on January 3, 2023, taking her oath of office from chief justice Annette Ziegler.{{cite news|url =https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/local/wisconsin/2023/01/03/gov-tony-evers-sworn-his-second-term-governor/10983463002/ |title= Gov. Tony Evers sworn in for his second term as governor |date= January 3, 2023 |newspaper= Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |accessdate= February 14, 2025 }}

Since becoming lieutenant governor, Rodriguez has kept up a busy schedule of events around the state and has actively campaigned for other Democratic candidates and causes. She also started a Leadership PAC focused on supporting candidates in favor of Medicaid expansion and other healthcare causes.{{cite news|url= https://www.wispolitics.com/2023/rodriguez-announces-new-pac-to-aiming-to-stave-off-gop-legislative-supermajority/ |title= Rodriguez announces new PAC to aiming to stave off GOP legislative supermajority |date= August 2, 2023 |work= Wispolitics.com |accessdate= February 14, 2025 }} She was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention and had a speaking slot on the convention's first day.{{cite news|url= https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2024/08/20/sara-rodriguez-dnc |title= Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez says DNC is 'electric and joyful' |date= August 20, 2024 |first= Aly |last= Prouty |work= Spectrum News |accessdate= February 14, 2025 }} The Wisconsin political press considers Rodriguez a likely candidate for governor in 2026 if Evers does not run for a third term.{{cite news|url= https://isthmus.com/news/cover-story/who-might-run-for-wisconsin-governor-in-2026/ |title= Who might run for Wisconsin governor in 2026? |date= August 1, 2024 |first= Steven |last= Walters |work= Isthmus |accessdate= February 14, 2025 }}

Rodriguez is married with two children and resides in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

• List of female lieutenant governors in the United States

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Category:1975 births

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:American women nurses

Category:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people

Category:Illinois Wesleyan University alumni

Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni

Category:Lieutenant governors of Wisconsin

Category:Living people

Category:Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Category:People from Brookfield, Wisconsin

Category:Politicians from Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Category:Wisconsin Democrats

Category:Women state legislators in Wisconsin

Category:21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature