Rodriguez attended Metropolitan State College in Denver, Colorado and worked for ten years as a legal secretary. She was a delegate to the 1988 Democratic national convention and served as a captain in the Denver Democratic Party. Rodriguez went to work for the mayor of Denver, Wellington E. Webb as his scheduler from 1992 through 1995. She was also president of the Hispanic League and a member of the Latino Education Coalition. In 1995, Webb promoted Rodriguez to deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Art, Culture and Film.In 1997 she moved up to the position of Denver’s Clerk and Recorder, a post she held until 2002. Her responsibilities included that of election commissioner. From 2002 to 2003 she was the Director of Boards and Commissions for the Mayor’s office and she served as chairwoman of the Reapportionment Commission. In 2003 Rodriguez was elected to the Denver City Council and served as its president from 2005 to 2006. 

 

In November 2006, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada nominated Rodriguez to be one of the Democratic members of the EAC, and she assumed her new position in March 2007. Seven weeks later she was elected vice chair. She was named chairwoman in January 2008.

 

Rodriguez is also a founder of Latina Initiative, which registers Latino voters and provides non-partisan election information to the Latino community.

A conversation with Rosemary Rodriguez: Chairwoman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (by Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News)