Biden names César Chávez granddaughter, a Delano native, to White House post
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday (Nov. 17) selected Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the granddaughter of farmworker icon César E. Chávez, to serve on his White House staff.
Rodríguez, 41, who was born in Delano, will serve as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
As a senior adviser for Latino outreach, she is the highest-ranking Latina on the Biden campaign.
“I am proud to announce additional members of my senior team who will help us build back better than before. America faces great challenges, and they bring diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to tackling these challenges and emerging on the other side a stronger, more united nation,” said Biden in a press statement.
Rodriguez is expected to help Biden improve his outreach with the Latino population. More than 70% of Latino voters supported Biden, but he failed to garner as much support as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign in areas like Miami-Dade County and Texas border counties.
“So honored to continue to serve President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as we engage governors, mayors, local and county officials, tribal leaders and state legislators in our efforts to get this pandemic under control and build back better,” Rodríguez posted on Twitter.
Rodríguez served as a deputy campaign manager on the Biden-Harris campaign, and had worked as director and traveling chief of staff for Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. She also worked as the California director for the senator.
The White House will be nothing new for Rodríguez, who served as special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior deputy director of public engagement in the Office of Public Engagement.
Rodríguez also served as director of youth employment at the Department of the Interior, and was deputy press secretary to then-Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
Rodríguez, who graduated from UC Berkeley, has served as director of programs at the César E. Chávez Foundation.
Her father, Arturo S. Rodríguez, served as president of the United Farm Workers upon Chávez’s death in 1993. He served for 25 years through 2018.
Other Latinos named by Biden to White House positions included Anthony Bernal as senior adviser to incoming first lady Jill Biden, and Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón as chief of staff to the first lady.
Bernal, a native of Arizona who graduated from the University of Texas El Paso, was deputy campaign manager and chief of staff to Jill Biden during the presidential campaign. He served eight years in the Obama administration.
Reynoso Pantaleón, who was born in the Dominican Republican and moved with her family to the U.S. when she was 7, served during the Obama administration as ambassador to Uruguay. She is a partner at the law firm of Winston & Strawn.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Biden names César Chávez granddaughter, a Delano native, to White House post."