Rodney Glassman

Rodney Britz Glassman (born May 7, 1978) is an American businessman, and politician from Arizona.

Glassman was born and raised in Fresno, California. For high school, he went to Lake Forest Academy, a prep school in Illinois, and graduated in 1996. He moved to Arizona in 1997 to manage his family's struggling Ice Rink business. He pursued undergraduate and advanced degrees at the University of Arizona. Glassman received a J.D. and Ph.D. (in Arid Land Resource Sciences) from the University of Arizona. In 2007, he ran for City Council of Tucson and won with more than 60% of the vote.

Glassman established the Glassman Foundation. The Glassman Foundation has teamed with several Southern Arizona groups concerning children to launch events such as the annual An Evening of Love Songs, and the Glassman Foundation Youth Expo.

For three years, Glassman served on the Arizona Farm Bureau. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Pima Council on Aging, Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education, and the Arizona 4-H Youth Foundation.

Glassman served on the City Council of the City of Tucson, Arizona, from 2007 to 2010.

During his time on the Tucson City Council, Glassman championed environmentally friendly legislation. Glassman worked to tackle Tucson’s water shortage by championing the nation’s first rainwater ordinance, which now requires commercial development to harvest and re-use rainwater. He also was involved in the council unanimously stating that new Tucson homes were required to graywater plumbing systems to reuse water for landscaping.

Glassman worked at reducing the bureaucracy necessary for Solar Generating Plants to be established in Tucson, and supported efforts to have electricity turned back on in foreclosed homes to aid the sale of Tucson’s housing stock.

In April 2010, Glassman entered the race for United States Senate as a member of the Democratic Party. Due to Arizona's "resign-to-run" law, Glassman was required to resign from his position on the Tucson City Council prior to announcing his run for Senate.

He won the Democratic nomination with 35% of the vote.

In the general election, Glassman challenged, and lost to, Republican incumbent John McCain.

Glassman lives with his wife Sasha in Tucson. The two published a children's book in 2010, titled Jeremy Jackrabbit Harvests the Rain.