Rachel Rodriguez
Republican | Florida
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
EDUCATION
Rutgers U., Camden, NJ, J.D., 2001-2004
Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, B.A., 1996-1999
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Governor
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (1)
Americans for Health Freedom
OTHER (1)
Mary Talley Bowden MD
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (5)
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden
Todd Callender, Esq.
Dr. Marivic Villa
Leigh Dundas, Esq.
Roseanne Barr
OTHER INFORMATION
Candidate debate. The Miami Independent. 25 Jul 2025. Starts at 2 hrs 10:33 min.
Candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026.
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
Under what circumstances should an elective abortion be allowed?
There is no medical reason for an elective abortion from the best medical evidence on the subject. Florida must honor the dignity and value of human life from conception to natural death (including artificial conception). That said, the people of Florida must themselves value human life in order to direct their representatives to protect all life and increase protection for the unborn and mothers under Florida law.
Human life deserves legal protection from conception until natural death.
Strongly Agree
The lives of human embryos created through artificial methods ought to be protected from purposeful destruction.
Strongly Agree
The Comstock Act, which bans interstate transportation of abortion-inducing drugs, should be enforced.
Strongly Agree
ECONOMY
What is your position on the minimum wage?
Minimum wage economics only drives out low-skilled workers when it is enforced as a floor for wages. Lower-skilled workers can obtain fair wages when we stop taxing or consuming a dollar as it is being produced in the marketplace.
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
List your top 3-5 priorities to eliminate government waste.
1. Tie all service costs, as much as possible, to those who benefit from them under a consumption taxation paradigm. 2. Local governments and state agencies should all be audited annually or bi-annually to ensure that budgets are tied to real-world need and performance. 3. Return services and authority to control them to the People through local governments. Self-governance is fundamental to the American socio-political and economic system.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
“Separation of church and state” means that the state must not establish a state religious institution. The legal foundation for our religious liberty is found in the constitution’s First Amendment, and religious belief was presumed to be Biblically-based. Now, the way to remain secure and live in peace is to require that diverse religious practice remain within the constitutional guardrails. Sharia law is a political structure not compatible with the US and Florida constitutions.
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D) Taxpayer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be defunded.
I would like to see a healthy economy and a healthy society such that we can move to all self-funded health care. Insurance drives up costs for health services exponentially and should not be a model for providing services. Direct provider-to-patient care models should have transparent costs. Fraud needs to be eliminated. Florida’s share-of-cost state program to help with sudden or catastrophic expenses is an excellent program.
The government should keep a database of people with various ongoing medical illnesses to assess the economic burden of treatment.
Strongly Disagree
I am categorically against giving the government health data on any individual and want to reverse that in Florida.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.
Strongly Agree
Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?
As for Florida, yes: Currently, Palm Beach County holds about $1bil in Israeli bonds, and these are outperforming other investment debts held by Florida government funds. Additionally, Florida has a cultural and economic interchange through its Linkage Institutes with Israel as well as several dozen other countries; and Florida does other trade with Israel as well as other nations through SelectFlorida programs through the Department of Commerce.
IMMIGRATION
I support the existence of sanctuary cities to protect undocumented persons.
Strongly Disagree
EDUCATION
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Strongly Agree
Foreign governments should be prohibited from funding American education.
Agree
Generally, foreign governments should not be investing in Florida’s schools because that inherently buys a level of influence that may threaten American security and constitutional principles being taught to students. However, we do have cultural and educational exchanges, and thus a better principle is clear guidelines and well enforced scope of grants for any higher educational investment by other nations.
VALUES
Government should recognize and support the fundamental right and essential duty of parents to direct their child's health and educational well-being.
Strongly Agree
Parental rights, and attendant responsibilities, are given by God, not the state.
Attempts to physically or socially transition a child to the opposite sex constitute child abuse.
Strongly Agree
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Strongly Agree
I support the expansion of gambling in my state.
Disagree
Gambling is a major economic activity in Florida and for certain businesses, involves agreements with tribal nations, which must be honored. However, in accordance with my view that the state should assess all policy as to whether it consumes people or promotes abundance, gambling both consumes the individual and also produces significantly for business. Thus, I cannot give unreserved support to expanding the footprint of gambling activity in Florida.
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
My faith is manifest in “Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly before God.” I am open about my faith in the Living God and that my relationship with Him and ability to live a morally upright life is only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All humans are made in Imago Dei, which means we are also moral agents, responsible to God for our decisions and obedience to His law and that we have infinite freedom and capacity to create and build, demonstrating His glory and our gifting through Him. Therefore, life is precious from conception to natural death, true value is in human capacity and relationship, and wealth is the accumulation of human capital. Government should promote human productivity, not consume it.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
EQUALITY
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
The reparations debate is a false binary designed to divide people by arbitrary lines of immutable physical characteristics, and reparations do not judge human conduct or weigh injury and responsibility on the basis of actual moral agency.
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Strongly Agree
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Man-made climate change is a global threat and requires urgent political action.
Strongly Disagree
Man-made climate change as defined in general literature is not scientifically proven and thus people should not be taxed and their assets consumed under the guise of “combatting climate change.” Rather, states should encourage stewardship of the environment and natural resources God has given humans.
What do you believe is the most reliable energy source that will supply the growing demand for electricity?
I am not a scientist, but it is clear that fossil fuels are both reliable and can be used in increasingly prudent ways. Nuclear power solutions have increased in recent years and should be used under clear guidelines for public safety.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
What should be the goal of the criminal justice system?
The goal of the criminal justice system is penalizing violations of law and thereby promoting moral order under rule of law. This has both punitive, retributive, and demonstrative elements of justice.
Government has a responsibility to protect children from sexual exploitation during online activities.
Strongly Agree
Sharia law should not be accepted or incorporated in any form within the legal framework of the United States.
Strongly Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
I do not see any restriction on gun ownership in the constitution, and I do not think such restrictions have a direct correlation with protection of the public. Moral character and a sound mind have the highest correlation with lawful and self-controlled use of firearms in a society, so the state should promote these elements in the People more than restrictions on these specific dangerous instrumentalities.
