Raymond Wesley Rodrigues (born April 17, 1970) is the 12th chancellor of the State University System of Florida since 2023. Previously, he served four terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing southern and coastal Lee County from 2012 to 2020 and one term in the Florida Senate from 2020 to 2022. His campaign website describes him as conservative.
History
Rodrigues was born in Pensacola and attended Berry College in Rome, Georgia, where he received a scholarship from the WinShape Foundation and graduated in 1992. Following graduation, he moved to Estero, where he became an active member of the community, eventually working as the Budget Manager for the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University and getting his MPA there in 2017.
Rodrigues has been active in the Lee County Republican Party since 1995, serving in various capacities including Vice-Chairman from 2010 to 2012. When the Florida House of Representatives districts were redrawn in 2012, Rodrigues ran for the newly created 76th District. He faced off against former State Representative Michael J. Grant and Chauncey Solinger in the Republican General Primary. Rodrigues won with nearly 50% of the vote to Grant's 28% and Solinger's 22%. Rodrigues was unopposed in the general election.
Florida House of Representatives
First term
2013 session
During his first session in 2013, Rodrigues sponsored legislation to strengthen Florida's government in sunshine laws that guaranteed the public's right to speak at official government meetings, which passed the legislature nearly unanimously. The bill was signed into law by the Governor.
Additionally, during that 2013 Session, he authored legislation that would allow overseas military absentee voters to have their ballots fully counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received within ten days of Election Day. Previously, ballots received within ten days of Election Day were only counted for federal offices. He noted, "Our military voters overseas are sacrificing for us to have the opportunity to hold elections. I think the right thing to do is to guarantee their full participation; I wanted to see their entire ballot counted." The bill was amended onto the Election Reform bill that passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
Finally in 2013 Rodrigues also worked with fellow State Representative Cary Pigman to Prime Co-sponsor the “Infants Born Alive Act” legislation which provides that an infant born alive during or immediately after an attempted abortion is entitled to the same rights as any other child born during a natural birth. The bill also requires that the same degree of professional care be used to preserve the life and health of these born alive infants. Furthermore, an infant born alive is required to be immediately transferred and admitted into a hospital. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.
2014 session
As Southwest Florida continued to grow in 2014, Rodrigues sponsored a bill to incorporate the Village of Estero as Lee County's first new city in 15 years, which provided local control and direct representation for its residents. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor. The referendum went on to pass with 87% voting in favor.
During the 2014 re-election campaign for his sophomore term, Ray Rodrigues was unopposed in the Republican Primary. He was challenged by Democratic candidate Charles Messina in the General Election. Rodrigues won reelection by defeating Messina 68% to 32%.
Second term
2015 session
In 2015 Rodrigues sponsored “the anti-speed trap bill”, a bill that prohibited traffic enforcement agencies from establishing traffic citation quotas and required counties and municipalities to report the total revenue received from traffic citations that exceed 33% of total expenses. The traffic enforcement bill was crafted to prevent law enforcement agencies to rely on traffic citations collected at speed traps to fund their budgets. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.