Wednesday, October 10, 2007

THE COMEBACK KID



CHARLIE RODRIGUEZ ( D )



Charlie Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican Democrat politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was the eleventh President of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1997 until 2000.



After two terms as a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, he ran for mayor of Carolina in 1988 and was defeated by José Aponte De la Torre in a close race. After four years in private practice, he returned to the Capitol in 1993 as a senator at-large and became Senate Majority Leader.



Rodriguez successfully challenged Senate President Roberto Rexach Benitez in 1997 and unseated him to become the eleventh President of the Senate of Puerto Rico.
Rodriguez then sought the NPP nomination for Mayor of San Juan in the 1999 primary. Rodriguez was the choice of the NPP leadership, but then San Juan Senator Jorge Santini challenged him in primaries held in 1999. Rodriguez lagged behind in polls and Santini soundly defeated Rodriguez by a wide margin. Santini went on to win the mayor's office in the 2000 elections.



Rodriguez sought the NPP nomination for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico for the 2003 primary but placed third in a four-way race, obtaining less than 8% of the vote against eventual Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño (r) and two other losing candidates
After three decisive defeats, Rodriguez aspires to become the NPP's comeback kid, once again seeking the NPP nomination for Resident Commissioner and claiming to be Pedro Rossello's preferred choice for running mate. As part of his efforts to be seen as Rossello's preferred choice, he joined the former governor in a protest at Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington DC .



Rodriguez' opponents are Dr. Miriam Ramírez, (R) the only candidate in the 2003 ( NPP) primary that obtained fewer votes than Rodriguez and former Puerto Rico Attorney General Pedro Pierluisi.
As of today, October 10th, 2007, Mr. Rodriguez has not received an open and public endorsement from the NPP's Democratic candidate for Governor Pedro Rossello, despite claiming that he has Rossello's support. Ricardo Rossello, the former Governor's son has recently openly endorsed Charlie.


Rodríguez is married to Katherine Erazo, with whom he's fathered three daughters, Nicole, Valerie and Christine.

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