Ydanis Rodriguez, the long standing favorite to win the 10th District seat on the City Council, spent election day canvassing Inwood, trying to rouse support at the polls. His message was clear — get out and vote for Bill Thompson.

“Today, I am asking that you remember to cast your vote down the Democratic line!” Rodriguez told supporters in email messages and postings on his campaign web site.

Nearly two months after winning the Democratic primary with a landslide 60 percent of the vote, Rodriguez slammed independent Ruben Dario Vargas in Tuesday’s general election, getting 95 percent of the vote. In the 10th District, 10,672 residents cast votes for Rodriguez, compared with 592 for Vargas.

“I’ll bring the voice of our community to City Hall,” Rodriguez said in a recent interview. “I’ll work with anyone who will bring resources to the community.”

After his primary victory in September, Rodriguez continued to work out of his campaign headquarters on 177th Street, meeting with community leaders and campaigning for Thompson.

“I would like to thank you for all the hard work and dedication to this campaign and our community,” Rodriguez said in a message to his supporters on his web site Tuesday.

Rodriguez ran unsuccessfully for the District 10 seat in 2001 and 2003, narrowly losing to Miguel Martinez on his second try. Martinez represented the district for eight years until, in July, he resigned and pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100,000 in public funds.

Despite his two narrow defeats and Martinez’s resignation, Rodriguez insists his campaign success had its roots in classic political principles.

“Two years ago we decided our slogan would be ‘Honesty, Dignity, Transparency,’” Rodriguez said. “We put it in writing two years ago. I got my values from my parents and that’s how I’ll conduct myself as the City Council representative for this area.”

What Rodriguez did do better than any of his opponents was raise money. The Rodriguez campaign raised $122,986, more than three and a half times the amount raised by any other candidate in the District 10 race, according to the City Campaign Finance Board. Six unions donated $2,750, the maximum allowed from an outside source, and Rodriguez contributed $3,000 of his own money.

One of 11 children born to farm workers in the Dominican Republic, Rodriguez immigrated to Washington Heights at 18. He worked as a taxi driver while earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from City College and a master’s degree in bilingual education from the City University of New York. Rodriguez was a founding teacher of Gregorio Luperon High School, which specializes in the education of new immigrant children. He has taught at the school for 14 years.

During a recent interview at his campaign office, Rodriguez appeared ready to make the transition from educator to legislator.

“As soon as I take office I’ll continue supporting bills that make sense for all New Yorkers,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll be putting a lot of energy into bills for quality education, for more money for legal services for tenants, more money for tenants associations.”

Rodriguez plans to draw on his experience as a teacher to improve education in his district. “Education is my top priority,” he said. “I’ll work with other elected officials for early education, zero to 5 early education programs with art, music, gymnastics. Programs other communities take for granted don’t exist in Washington Heights. I’ll work with my colleagues to bring them here.”

One of the many challenges facing educators in District 10 is teaching a large Spanish-speaking population.

“At some schools at the neighborhood level, 70 percent or more children in the city are Spanish speaking,” said Maria Torres-Guzman, professor of bilingual education at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

To address the large number of children requiring bilingual education, Rodriguez said he plans to explore all available options. According to Torres-Guzman, one of the most successful programs has been “dual immersion,” in which native Spanish and native English speakers learn both languages concurrently and become fluent in both.

“There’s a misconception that dual language is for the middle class,” Torres-Guzman said. “You don’t have to transition out of anything, and the results have been fabulous.”

“There may be a place for that in our community,” Rodriguez said, asked about dual immersion programs. “I’ll support any program that guarantees a quality education. We must be open to creative change. Change what’s not working, bring in new programs.”

Despite his excitement, Rodriguez is saddened to leave his teaching career. “Education is what gave me the opportunity to be what I am today,” he said. Yet, in the midst of the long transition, he appeared ready to get to work. “This is an opportunity for me to continue what I’ve been doing my whole life. Now I have a staff and an office. I’m excited.”