Earlier this week, we learned that Diego A. Rodriguez, the vice-chair of the Democrat Party of Wisconsin's Latino Caucus and campaign manager for Democrat Assembly member Priscilla Prado, is a convicted sex offender.
Rodriguez was convicted of having sex with teenage boys while working as a church youth pastor, as well as of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime after he tried to meet up with a teenage boy on the gay dating app Grindr. That teenage boy was actually an undercover officer.
Rodriguez's LinkedIn profile also said he "serves as the Coalition Coordinator for Justice Forward Wisconsin." On August 11, Rodriguez spent primary day knocking on doors for Democrat David Crowley and attended Crowley's victory party that night.
After the story broke, Rodriguez was fired by both the Wisconsin Democrats and Prado's campaign, as she's running for reelection this year. Her campaign said she'd employ a "more thorough vetting process" in the future.
Townhall reached out to both the WisDems and the Crowley campaign on September 23 for comment and received no response. We specifically asked about the vetting process and whether the party or Crowley's campaign knew of Rodriguez's criminal history.
Now it turns out the Democrats did, and it was the only reason they didn't run Rodriguez for the Wisconsin Assembly. But despite knowing Rodriguez was a convicted sex offender, the Democrats kept this quiet for almost a year.
The Heartland Post broke this story.
BOMBSHELL exclusive at @HeartlandPostWI: High-ranking Democrats were planning to run a convicted pedophile for Wisconsin Assembly and knew of his crimes but remained silent for more than eight months! https://t.co/7Ho5ZaJOVZ
— Dan O'Donnell (@DanODonnellShow) September 24, 2026
High-ranking Democrats in the Wisconsin Legislature planned to run convicted child sex offender Diego A. Rodriguez for State Assembly and knew about his criminal record for nearly a year, three legislative sources confirmed to The Heartland Post.
Rodriguez even moved from his home in Waukesha into the 8th Assembly District in Milwaukee this January in preparation for a run before the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee (ADCC) decided that his record would make him unelectable. The ADCC, is run by Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, and oversees Democrats’ Assembly campaigns. Two different sources with direct knowledge of its operations confirmed to The Heartland Post that the ADCC was aware that Rodriguez was a convicted pedophile.
“They absolutely knew,” one source said.
Rather than remove him from his post as vice chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s Latino Caucus, though, the ADCC allowed him to run two different Assembly re-election campaigns and work for such high-profile Democrats as Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez (no known relation) and Waukesha Mayor Alicia Halvensleben.
A spokesperson for the ADCC denied that the organization had vetted Rodriguez or talked with him about a possible run.
Tme and again, every accusation is a confession.
Literally protecting a pedophile. And that's what they project onto Trump, their own crimes. https://t.co/Kkgu4RNiKf
— Calling Gloria 🎵 🇺🇸 🌴☀️ (@LynnFreedom68) September 24, 2026
Democrats have spent the past two years falsely accusing President Trump of being a "pedophile" and Republicans of being "pedophile protectors." It is Democrats who protect pedophiles. In Minnesota, Tim Walz even pardoned one so he wouldn't be deported. And now, in Wisconsin, Democrats considered running a convicted sex offender for office, but then kept him on to run campaigns and be the vice chair of their Latino Caucus.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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