Raul Ruiz
Official portrait, 2024
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Mary Bono
Constituency	36th district (2013–2023) 25th district (2023–present)
Personal details
Born	(1972-08-25)August 25, 1972 (age 53) Zacatecas City,Mexico
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Monica Rivers ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	2
Education	University of California, Los Angeles (BS) Harvard University (MD,MPP,MPH)
Signature
Website	House website Campaign website
Ruiz's voice Ruiz calling to honor U.S. servicemen with theCongressional Gold Medal. Recorded October 26, 2021

Raul Ruiz (/rɑːˈuːl/rah-OOL; born August 25, 1972) is an American physician and politician serving as theU.S. representative forCalifornia's 25th congressional district. He is a member of theDemocratic Party.^[1]

Born inZacatecas City,Mexico, Ruiz was adopted by his father's sister inCoachella, California after his mother's death. He was the first Latino to receive three graduate degrees fromHarvard University, attendingHarvard Medical School, theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government andHarvard School of Public Health. He worked as an emergency physician at theEisenhower Medical Center inRancho Mirage, California. He assisted humanitarian efforts in the aftermath of the2010 Haiti earthquake.^[2]

In what was considered a major upset, Ruiz defeated redistricted incumbentRepublican U.S. RepresentativeMary Bono in the2012 election with 52.9% of the vote. He was reelected in2014 with 54.2% of the vote, after what was considered one of the most competitive congressional races in the country; in2016 and2018, he received about 60% of the vote.^[3]

Ruiz was born inZacatecas City, capital city of state ofZacatecas, Mexico. His mother died months later in other city more far northern Mexico and his father give him to his sister who are raised inCoachella, California.^[4][5][6] His adoptive uncles were farm workers.^[7] He graduated fromCoachella Valley High School at age 17 and went to theUniversity of California, Los Angeles in 1990, graduatingmagna cum laude before attendingHarvard Medical School.^[6] He was the first Latino to receive three graduate degrees fromHarvard University: aDoctor of Medicine from the Harvard Medical School, aMaster of Public Policy from theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government, and aMaster of Public Health from theHarvard School of Public Health.^[6]

After graduating from Harvard, Ruiz spent time working abroad inMexico,El Salvador, andSerbia, and completed emergency medicine residency training at theUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2006^[8] before taking a job as an emergency physician at theEisenhower Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in the Coachella Valley. He founded the Coachella Valley Healthcare Initiative in 2010. In 2011, he became senior associate dean at the School of Medicine atUniversity of California, Riverside.^[6][9]

In 2012, Ruiz received aCommander's Award for Public Service from the U.S. Army's82nd Airborne Division for his humanitarian efforts for victims of the2010 Haiti earthquake.^[6]

Ruiz ran for theUnited States House of Representatives in 2012 as a first-time candidate inCalifornia's 36th congressional district. The district had previously been the 45th, represented by 15-year incumbentMary Bono Mack and previously by her late husbandSonny Bono. Ruiz was initially regarded as a long shot to win.^[10] He was endorsed byBill Clinton in October 2012.^[10] The new district was significantly more Latino than its predecessor; Latinos now made up almost half its population. Ruiz appealed to them by running Spanish-language ads.^[11] He criticized Bono Mack for not reaching out to Latino voters sooner saying, "She’s had 14 years to give them the attention that they deserve. This is unacceptable."^[12]

During the 2012 campaign, Bono Mack accused Ruiz of being a "radical" for participating in anti-Thanksgiving protests in the 1990s while at Harvard and repeatedly referred to Ruiz's 1997 arrest.^[13][12] Ruiz had allegedly supported "Smashing Plymouth Rock. Crush the rock and all it represents."^[13] At a debate, Bono Mack repeatedly attacked Ruiz for his participation in the protests and arrest, while Ruiz accused her of ignoring issues and tying her to the Republican presidential ticket.^[13]

At an October 2012 press conference, Bono Mack campaign officials released an audiotape on which Ruiz expressed solidarity with convicted police murdererMumia Abu-Jamal and read a letter of support forLeonard Peltier, who was convicted in 1977 of murdering two FBI agents inSouth Dakota.^[14][15] On the tape, supposedly recorded at a 1999 Thanksgiving rally,^[15] Ruiz read aloud a letter to Peltier from a Marxist leader, "Subcomandante Marcos." It read in part: "Leonard Peltier's most serious crime is that he seeks to rescue in the past, and in his culture, in his roots, the history of his people, theLakota. And for the powerful, this is a crime because knowing oneself with history impedes from being tossed around by this absurd machine that is in the system." A spokesman for Ruiz maintained that the candidate did not recall the incident and did not support Peltier.^[16]

He was elected with 52.9% of the vote to Bono Mack's 47.1%.^[17] "If the growing sway of Latinos in American politics was the story of election 2012", wrotePolitico after the 2012 election, "Raul Ruiz's triumph in California's 36th congressional district was a dramatic subplot." Republicans "didn't seem to fully appreciate the district's fast-growing Hispanic population until it was too late." Ruiz toldPolitico that his victory was "a reflection of America."^[18] Upon taking office in January 2013, he became the first Democrat to represent this district since its creation in 1983 (it had been the 37th from 1983 to 1993, the 44th from 1993 to 2003, and the 45th from 2003 to 2013).

Ruiz competed in the top-two primary on June 3, finishing first with 50.3% of the vote.^[19][20] He then faced the Republican nominee, state assemblymanBrian Nestande, in the November 4 general election.^[21] Despite being considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent members of the House, Ruiz was reelected with 54.2% of the vote to Nestande's 45.8%.

Ruiz's 2016 campaign focused largely on his successful attempt to secure funds for theSalton Sea Red Hill Bay restoration project and his efforts on behalf of veterans.^[22]

Ruiz was elected to a third term in November, receiving 60% of the vote, over Republican state SenatorJeff Stone.^[23]

After winning, Ruiz spoke critically about "the politics of fear" and "hateful rhetoric." Addressing his supporters inRancho Mirage, he said, "I believe that we need to come together as a nation. I believe we need to heal our wounds and put people above partisanship and solutions above ideology."^[23]

In October 2017, soap opera actressKimberlin Brown, a pro-Trump Republican, announced that she would challenge Ruiz in 2018. Criticizing Ruiz for not passing any "meaningful" legislation, Brown said, "For the first time in the history of our great country, we are not leaving something better behind for the next generation." Brown, known forThe Bold and the Beautiful, runs a design firm and has co-managed anavocado farm with her husband.^[24]

Ruiz was reelected with 59% of the vote.^[25]

Ruiz was reelected, defeating Republican challenger Erin Cruz, an author and a candidate for theUnited States Senate in2018,^[26] with 60.3% of the vote.^[27][28]

Due to redistricting, Ruiz chose to run in the newly drawn25th Congressional district in 2022, citing his roots in Coachella.^[29] In the primary, Ruiz won 56% of the vote and Republican Brian Hawkins, aSan Jacinto city councilmember, came in second with 16%.^[30] In the general election, Ruiz won with 57% to Hawkins 42%.^[31]

In the 2024 election for California's 25th congressional district, Ruiz was reelected, defeating Republican Ian Weeks with 56.3% of the vote to Weeks' 43.7%.^[32]

Ruiz was sworn into office on January 3, 2013, as theU.S. representative forCalifornia's36th congressional district.^[33] During the113th Congress, he served on theVeterans' Affair andNatural Resources committees.^[33] In May, Ruiz voted against repealing theAffordable Care Act which he supported during his campaign.^[34][35]

In 2014, Ruiz voted for HR 4038, legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees fromSyria andIraq to the United States.^[36]

In 2017, Ruiz was appointed to the HouseCommittee on Energy and Commerce, which overseas healthcare policy.^[37] That year he calledObamacare "a giant step in the right direction" while acknowledging that "it is imperfect and needs to be improved." He maintained that the GOP plan would "make premiums and deductibles go up even higher, 24 million will be uninsured...and there will be reduced reimbursement rates to hospitals and doctors for patients onMedicaid...There's nothing to reduce health care costs and out-of-pocket payments." Ruiz said that Obamacare represented "one of the largest improvements in covering Latinos with health insurance."^[37]

Ruiz'scommittee assignments for the119th Congress include:^[38]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Health
  • Subcommittee on Environment

Ruiz'scaucus memberships include:^[39]

• Congressional Equality Caucus^[40]
• New Democrat Coalition
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional Doctors Caucus (co-chair)
• Indian Health Service Task Force (chair)

He received in 2025 aCarnegie Corporation of New YorkGreat Immigrant Award^[41]

Ruiz is married to Monica Rivers, an emergency room nurse. They married in 2014 in theCoachella Valley.^[42] Their twin daughters were born in 2015.^[43] He is a member of theSeventh-day Adventist Church.^[44] Ruiz and his family live inIndio.^[45]

• List of Harvard University politicians
• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
• Physicians in US Congress

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRaul Ruiz (politician).

• Congressman Raul Ruiz official U.S. House website
• Raul Ruiz for Congress campaign website
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at theFederal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at theLibrary of Congress
• Profile atVote Smart

• 1972 births
• 21st-century United States representatives
• American politicians of Mexican descent
• American Seventh-day Adventists
• California Democrats
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
• Harvard Kennedy School alumni
• Harvard Medical School alumni
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni
• Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress
• Living people
• Mexican emigrants to the United States
• People from Coachella, California
• Physicians from California
• University of California, Los Angeles alumni
• University of California, Riverside faculty

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