Jose R. Rodriguez Bio
Jose Rodriguez is the Democratic candidate for State Senator District 29.
Official Website: http://www.joserodriguezforsenate.com.
Website Bio: Jose Rodriguez is the son of migrant farm workers, born in Alice, Texas, in 1948. From an early age, he worked in fields throughout the United States to help support a family of nine. Jose graduated in the class of 1967 from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School in Pharr, Texas, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
He attended Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas, where he was student body president and graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government. He realized his dream of becoming a lawyer when he graduated in 1974 from the National Law Center at George Washington University in the nation’s capital. He and his family have made their home in El Paso for 27 years, since 1983.
Jose has made a life long commitment to public service. He has practiced law for 35 years, 33 of them in the public interest sector. As El Paso County Attorney, he was elected for 5 terms beginning in 1993. Before assuming his duties as County Attorney, Jose was Legal Advisor to County Judge Alicia R. Chacon. He began his legal career as a staff attorney with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. He practiced law with the firm of Rodriguez, Lewis& Collins and worked for 10 years as a staff attorney and director of the farm worker program of Texas Rural Legal Aid, Inc, a statewide legal services program.
As County Attorney for the last 17 years, Jose represented the County of El Paso, its elected officials, and the county hospital district, as well as the State of Texas in matters involving juvenile crime, child and elder abuse, mental health, deceptive business practices, and environmental enforcement. His work included challenging the State on transportation funding, Medicaid reimbursement rates, and mental health funding. His legislative advocacy contributed to the enactment of colonia legislation, border county regulatory authority, first environmental State court, and historic county ethics legislation.
