Rodney Ellis

Rodney Ellis

Rodney Glenn Ellis (born April 7, 1954) is an American politician. He represented Texas' 13th state senate district in the Texas Senate from 1990 to 2017. The district contains portions of Harris County, including downtown Houston, and Fort Bend County. He is a member of the Democratic Party. On June 25, 2016, Ellis won the Democratic Party's nomination for Harris County Commissioners Court Precinct 1. He was elected county commissioner on November 8, 2016 and sworn into office on January 1, 2017.Ellis was elected to the Texas Senate on February 13, 1990, and sworn into office on February 27, 1990. In his 26-year tenure, Ellis passed 700 pieces of legislation and earned praise for his leadership on increasing access to college for high-achieving Texas students, championing criminal justice reforms to protect the innocent and hold the guilty accountable, and fighting to provide quality, affordable health care to the most vulnerable Texans, amongst many other issues. Ellis sat on the Senate State Affairs, Transportation, and Business & Commerce Committees. In previous sessions, Ellis chaired the Senate Finance, Jurisprudence, Government Organization, Intergovernmental Relations, and Open Government Committees.Ellis chaired the Board of Directors for the Innocence Project from 2003 to 2017. He now serves as a member of the Founders' Circle for the Innocence Project. He co-chairs the National Conference of State Legislatures Task Force on International Relations. He also serves on the National Conference of State Legislatures Executive Committee, the LBJ Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

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