Voters Guide: N.Y. State Comptroller: Paul Rodriguez

PAUL RODRIGUEZ

REPUBLICAN

BACKGROUND:

• Rodriguez, 53, lives in Brooklyn.
• He has 25 years of experience in global financial markets on Wall Street and in advising small businesses.
• He was born in Queens and lived in Puerto Rico for 10 years and used his fluency in Spanish to work throughout Latin America and Europe.
• He attended Northwestern University and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Georgia and had an economics fellowship at Stanford University.
• He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2004 against Rep. Nydia Valesquez. He managed a multi-million fundraising campaign for the Archdiocese of New York. 

ISSUES:

• Rodriguez says he is a political outsider who will professionalize the comptroller’s office.
• He said he will serve as a better watchdog on state spending.
• He said he will work to lower the cost of living in New York State by reducing government spending and by attracting employers to a more business-friendly environment.
• He said he will use the office to combat “play-to-play” in which some elected officials have favored campaign contributors with state contracts.
• He said the pension must be invested without being influenced by political popularity or activism by the comptroller.