Eddie Rodriguez’s roots in the 35th Congressional District run deep. Stretching back to his mother’s home in the Gardendale neighborhood of San Antonio where she grew-up, and continuing through today into the East Austin neighborhood where he has lived for over 20 years and has worked, raised a family, and fought for his diverse community. Eddie was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, and wa
s the first of his family to go to college. He studied government at The University of Texas at Austin, and earned his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law. Eddie was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 2002 as the State Representative for District 51, serving Central, East and Southeast Austin and Travis County. In 2021, Eddie led the Democratic delegation’s effort to stop the right-wing suppression plans by spending 40 days in Washington, DC advocating for voting rights while denying Republicans the quorum they needed to pass the most restrictive laws in generations. In 2019, Eddie led the fight to ensure the Central Texas Planned Parenthood clinic on East 7th Street in Austin could remain open and serving the community, and maintains his consistent efforts against Republican schemes to suppress a woman’s right to make her own health decisions. As representative of a district uniquely threatened by involuntary displacement, affordability has been one of Eddie’s foremost legislative priorities. He has also worked extensively on issues related to economic development & job creation, public education, voting rights, nutrition & hunger, gun safety, protecting the environment and ensuring that all Texans have access to quality, affordable healthcare. Some of his proudest legislative accomplishments include giving Texas cities the ability to create “Homestead Preservation Districts” (an affordable housing tool), expanding the National School Breakfast Program to feed an additional 700,000 hungry Texas children and removing the cap on the number of dual credit courses that high school students can take to help them be better prepared for college and the workforce.
