In July 2017, Rodriguez announced his candidacy for the U.S. House representing Illinois's 18th congressional district in the 2018 U.S. federal midterm election,[1] but lost to incumbent Republican Darin LaHood.
from Nicholls State University (1979), he taught in the public school system of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, for nearly a decade.
[5] John Greenfieldt and Patrice Bartell recommended his Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion for public library core collections.
[7][8] Rodriguez unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican congressman Darin LaHood of Illinois's 18th congressional district in 2016, running as a Democrat.
[9] His number of votes was the second most ever earned by a Democrat in the Illinois 18th District, despite running as a vacancy appointment on a shortened campaign schedule.