Roderick Wright (politician)

Roderick Devon "Rod" Wright (born July 3, 1952)[1][2] is a Democratic politician who previously represented California's 35th State Senate district until his resignation on September 22, 2014. He previously represented the 25th district from 2008-2012. Wright also represented California's 48th State Assembly district from 1996 until he was term limited in 2002.

Roderick Wright
Member of the
California State Senate
In office
December 1, 2008  September 22, 2014
Preceded byEdward Vincent
Succeeded byIsadore Hall III
Constituency25th district (2008–12)
35th district (2012–14)
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 48th district
In office
December 2, 1996  November 30, 2002
Preceded byMarguerite Archie-Hudson
Succeeded byMark Ridley-Thomas
Personal details
Born
Roderick Devon Wright

(1952-07-03) July 3, 1952
Chicago, Illinois
Political partyDemocratic
Children2
ResidenceInglewood, California
Alma materPepperdine University
OccupationLegislator

Education and pre-legislative career

Senator Wright obtained his degree in Urban Studies and City Planning at Pepperdine University.

Prior to his initial entrance into elected office in 1996, Senator Wright was the District Director to Congresswoman Maxine Waters where he assisted citizens with federal matters such as Social Security, Medi-Care and veterans issues among others.

Legislative career

Wright was then elected to the California State Assembly in 1996 representing the 48th Assembly District covering much of south Los Angeles County. From 1998 until 2002, Wright served as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce (U&C) which held legislative jurisdiction over electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, private water corporations and other issues related to commerce. Wright has been recognized for his work in the areas of public safety, education, energy and utilities, small business, family law and consumer privacy.[3]

2008 primary

Entering the 2008 primary season, Wright had been out of politics for six years and was initially not considered a strong candidate against the front runner, former Lieutenant Governor and Congressman Mervyn Dymally. However, with his own fundraising and help from independent expenditure groups, Wright was able to overcome his lack of name recognition in the area – most of the area Wright represented in the California State Assembly is in California's 26th Senate District.[4]

2010 harassment settlement

In April 2010, California Senate leaders secretly approved a $120,000 settlement in a harassment claim against Wright.[5]

2010 indictment and 2014 conviction

In September 2010, a Los Angeles County grand jury unsealed an eight-count felony indictment against state Sen. Roderick Wright accusing him of filing a false declaration of candidacy, voter fraud and perjury beginning in 2007, when he changed his voter registration to run for the Legislature.

Wright was convicted of eight counts of voter fraud on January 28, 2014.[6] In September, he was sentenced to ninety days' confinement and banned from public office for the rest of his life.[7][8][9]

Wright resigned from the State Senate on September 22, 2014.[10]

Pardon

On November 21, 2018, Jerry Brown, Governor of California, pardoned Wright.[11]

References

  1. "Senator Roderick Wright of California". Archived from the original on April 29, 2010. Retrieved 2013-08-17.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. https://articles.latimes.com/1991-01-17/local/me-299_1_candidates-filing
  3. "Senator Rod Wright". Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  4. The California Majority Report // Senate Leadership Scores Big with Rod Wright
  5. "State Senate approves settlement in harassment case against Sen. Rod Wright". Daily Breeze. 15 December 2011.
  6. Reid Wilson (November 3, 2014). "California state senator sentenced to 90 days in prison serves about one hour". washingtonpost.com.
  7. California Sen. Wright gets 90 days in jail for perjury, voter fraud; by Jean Merl, 12 September 2014LA Times
  8. Merl, Jean (September 17, 2010). "State Sen. Roderick Wright indicted on charges of voter fraud and perjury". Los Angeles Times.
  9. Merl, Jean (January 28, 2014). "State Sen. Roderick Wright found guilty of perjury, voter fraud". Los Angeles Times.
  10. Lin, Judy (September 15, 2014). "Rod Wright Resigns After Voter Fraud Case". Huffington Post.
  11. Jerry Brown pardons California lawmaker convicted of felony voter fraud
California Assembly
Preceded by
Marguerite Archie-Hudson
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 48th district

December 2, 1996–December 2, 2002
Succeeded by
Mark Ridley-Thomas
California Senate
Preceded by
Edward Vincent
Member of the California State Senate
from the 25th district

December 1, 2008–December 3, 2012
Succeeded by
Carol Liu
Preceded by
Tom Harman
Member of the California State Senate
from the 35th district

December 3, 2012–September 22, 2014
Succeeded by
Isadore Hall III
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