Ciro Rodriguez

A year earlier, Cuellar had given the 23rd's five-term Republican incumbent, Henry Bonilla, his closest race ever.

In June, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Texas Legislature had violated the Voting Rights Act when it drew most of Laredo out of the 23rd and replaced it with several heavily Republican San Antonio suburbs.

By moving most of Laredo to the 28th, the Republican-controlled legislature hoped to protect Bonilla by packing the 28th with as many Democrats as possible.

Ciro Davis Rodriguez (born December 9, 1946) is an American politician and social worker who served as a U.S. Representative for TX's 23rd congressional district, serving from 2007 until 2011.

From 1975 to 1987, he served as a board member of the Harlandale Independent School District, working as an educational consultant for the Intercultural Development Research Association and serving as a caseworker with the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

From 1987 to 1996, he taught at Our Lady of the Lake University's Worden School of Social Service, the oldest school of Social Work in Texas.

Rodriguez served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 1997.

He chaired the important Local and Consent Calendar Committee, served on the Public Health and the Higher Education Committees, and presided as a vice chairman of the Legislative Study Group.

He drafted legislation to allow students to earn college credit while they were in still in high school and the law that guaranteed the top ten percent of graduating students a place at a Texas four-year university.

The district stretched from El Paso in the west to San Antonio in the east, a distance of some 500 mi. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the neighboring 28th congressional district from 1997 to 2005, and was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 1997.

In January 1997, 28th District congressman Frank Tejeda died at the start of his third term.

A special election to fill the remainder of his service was held in April, resulting in Rodriguez defeating his nearest rival Juan F. Solis III with 66.7% of the vote.

After being sworn in on April 12, Rodriguez served as a member of the Armed Services, Veterans' Affairs and Resources Committees.

He was also the ranking member of the VA Subcommittee on Health.

Additionally, he led the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as chairman from 2003 to 2004 after four years as its Health Care Task Force Chairman.

He was also involved in military base creation and redevelopment and drafted legislation creating the Brooks City-Base; he also promoted the transformation of the former Kelly Air Force Base into Kelly USA, a maintenance and logistics center.

Rodriguez was the lead sponsor of the Hispanic Health Improvement Act.

The 2003 Texas redistricting shifted most of heavily Democratic Laredo, previously one of the bases of the 23rd District, into the already heavily Democratic 28th.

Laredo is the base of former Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar, a somewhat more conservative Democrat than Rodriguez.

In March 2004, Rodriguez lost the primary election, the real contest in this district, to Cuellar by 58 votes.

Rodriguez sued to overturn Cuellar's victory, but the Texas 4th Court of Appeals ruled against him.

After leaving Congress in January 2005, he joined with his former chief of staff, Jeff Mendelsohn, to create Rio Strategy Group LLC, a boutique government relations firm to assist clients at the local, state and national levels.

In his capacity in Congress from 2006–2011, Congressman Rodriguez led as a champion of Veterans, farmers, law enforcement, and border security for the people of the 23rd District.

He made sure the University of Texas at San Antonio had the funds to build a department for the development of Homeland Security, Veterans' received the benefits they deserved, the border was secure from the violence in Mexico, and secured funds for the agriculture community that consists of farmers, Texas A&M University, and Sul Ross University research programs.

Rodriguez tried to regain his old House seat in 2006.

His campaign was under-financed, but gained significant momentum after a photographer with The Washington Post snapped a photo of Cuellar at the 2006 State of the Union address, on the Republican side of the aisle, smiling as President George W. Bush affectionately grabbed his face.

Rodriguez lost the March 7 Democratic primary with 40% of the vote to Cuellar's 53%.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee in the 2009–10 legislative session, Congressman Rodriguez was able to secure the $97 million to build the port of entry while also securing funds for new Veterans' Clinics in Del Rio, South San Antonio, and Uvalde.

Rodriguez voted against both President Bush's and Obama's TARP/bank bailouts.

He also voted against the General Motors bailout.

Rodriguez did support the Stimulus plan, Health Care Reform and Financial Regulation of Wall Street.

He helped pass the largest increase in veteran’s health care funding and the Wounded Warrior Act, reducing red tape for veterans in need.

See: The Voter's Self Defense System He has also focused on national security issues including cyber-security.

In July 2011, Congressman Rodriguez celebrated with El Paso County officials the groundbreaking of the Tornillo Port of Entry.

He served as a justice of the peace for Bexar County from 2015 to 2021.

Rodriguez was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, but was raised and received his education in San Antonio, Texas.

When he was young, his mother died suddenly and he dropped out of school.

After working at a gas station for a year, he decided to go back to school and attended two different summer schools to catch up.

He graduated with his entering class from Harlandale High School and then briefly attended San Antonio College, but subsequently graduated from St. Mary’s University with a B.A. in Political Science.

He received his Master of Social Work from Our Lady of the Lake University.