Once one of the most liberal lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez has taken a substantial shift to the political center and heads into the November election as a moderate in a Democratic district with strong conservative enclaves.

"I'm responding to needs," Rodriguez said of his political metamorphosis. "Part of it is looking at your district and who you represent."

Rodriguez once represented the heavily Democratic 28th Congressional District that includes San Antonio 's South Side and Laredo . But he lost that seat in 2004 to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

Two years later, Rodriguez returned to Congress by defeating Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, in a special runoff election after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the 23rd Congressional District redrawn to include more minority voters.

The new district — sweeping from San Antonio to El Paso — includes areas with conservative voters on San Antonio 's Northwest Side and in Val Verde County and rural towns in West Texas . But it also has Democratic areas on the South Side and in Eagle Pass and Presidio.

Democrats and Republicans consider it a "swing" district — President Bush carried it in 2000 with 54 percent of the vote and again in 2004 with 57 percent.

In 2003, when Rodriguez represented the 28th District, he had an 80 percent rating in a National Journal survey of House votes, placing him in the top 20 percent of liberal-leaning congressmen. Rodriguez had the most liberal voting record of all six Hispanic lawmakers from Texas , according to the Journal.

In his new district, Rodriguez has steered toward the center, with the Journal survey last year giving him a 59 percent rating.

Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson, Rodriguez's Republican opponent in November, said that's still too liberal.

"He definitely has a voting record that does not demonstrate a very conservative approach to governance," said Larson, citing Rodriguez's votes against free trade pacts and energy bills and his support of organized labor over business interests.

In perhaps his largest split with Democratic Party leaders, Rodriguez supported the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act.

The SAVE Act has strong Republican support, including that of Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a firebrand who called for strict measures to cut down on illegal immigration through border enforcement.

Rodriguez is the only Hispanic lawmaker from either party to support the legislation, angering Hispanic groups such as the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Council of La Raza.

"People in the community are quite concerned that he is the only Latino on that bill," said Cecilia Muñoz, senior vice president of NCLR, the nation's largest Hispanic rights organization.

Under the bill, Muñoz said, 2 million Hispanic workers would have their jobs placed in jeopardy because of faulty government data that would be used to verify those eligible to work in the United States .

Rodriguez said he supports the SAVE Act because it includes his language that would provide federal funds for local cities and law enforcement offices on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez has drawn criticism from conservatives for voting with Democratic leaders on energy bills, including a Republican measure to open more coastal areas to drilling.

Ken Spain with the National Republican Congressional Committee, which actively supports Larson, said, "Rodriguez's obstruction of critical energy legislation is no longer surprising, but it is appalling."

Rodriguez dismissed criticism from the NRCC and pointed to his endorsement by the Texas Farm Bureau political action committee.

"He has a 100 percent voting record on issues that are important to Farm Bureau members," said Gene Hall, a spokesman for the group.

The Texas Farm Bureau Friends of Agriculture Fund is nonpartisan but leans conservative. The PAC has given to both Republicans and Democrats, based on their votes on bills considered favorable to agricultural interests.

Despite his shift to the political center, Rodriguez still maintains important allies on the left.

The San Antonio AFL-CIO Central Labor Council was largely credited with helping Rodriguez when he was first elected to Congress, in 1997. Since then, he's received organized labor's help in all his campaigns, while voting overwhelmingly with labor on key bills before Congress.

Rodriguez voted against free trade pacts with Chile and Singapore , and most recently against trade initiatives with Peru . And he voted with labor for a bill to provide assistance to workers who lost jobs because of globalization.

The conservative Cato Institute gives Rodriguez a 33 percent rating on trade issues, which it says indicates a mixed voting record.

Organized labor remains behind Rodriguez in his re-election bid against Larson and Libertarian Lani Connolly.

"We are helping Ciro this year," said Linda Chavez-Thompson, the national AFL-CIO executive secretary emeritus in San Antonio . "We are making sure our people are registered to vote."