Raul Ruiz (politician)

Raul Ruiz
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 36th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Janice Hahn
Personal details
Born	(1972-08-25) August 25, 1972[1] Zacatecas, Mexico
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Palm Desert, California[2]
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (B.A.) Harvard University (M.D.; M.P.H.; M.P.P.)
Profession	Emergency room physician
Religion	Seventh-day Adventist[3]
Website	Representative Raul Ruiz

Raul Ruiz (born August 25, 1972) is an American medical doctor and politician. He is a member of the United States House of Representatives and a member of the Democratic Party.^[4] In what was considered a major upset,^[5] Ruiz defeated redistricted, incumbent Republican representative Mary Bono Mack,^[4] in the November 2012 general election, in California's 36th congressional district.

Early life and education

Ruiz was born in Zacatecas, Mexico ^[6] and raised in Coachella, California.^[7] His parents were migrant farmworkers.^[8] He graduated from Coachella Valley High School at age 17, and went to UCLA in 1990, graduating magna cum laude before attending Harvard Medical School.^[7] He was the first Hispanic to receive three graduate degrees from Harvard University: an M.D. from the Harvard Medical School; an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; and an M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health. ^[7]

Medical career

After graduating from Harvard University, Ruiz spent time working abroad in Mexico, El Salvador, and Serbia, before taking a job as an emergency physician at the Eisenhower 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 at University of California, Riverside.^[7][9]

In 2012, he received a Commander's Award for Public Service from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division for his humanitarian efforts for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.^[7]

U.S. House of Representatives

2012 election

Ruiz ran for the United States House of Representatives in 2012 as a first-time candidate, challenging Republican representative Mary Bono Mack in California's 36th congressional district. While Ruiz was initially regarded as a long shot to win,^[10] he gained traction in the polls in the months before the November election, attacking Bono Mack for not doing enough to court the Latino community in the district.^[2] He was elected with 52.9% of the vote, to Bono Mack's 47.1%. Upon taking office in January 2013, Ruiz is the first Democrat to represent the Coachella Valley since John V. Tunney was elected, in 1971.^[4][11]

Tenure

In May 2013, Ruiz voted against repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.^[12][13]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Health

Thanksgiving Day protests

In 1997, while attending Harvard as a medical student, Ruiz participated in an annual Thanksgiving protest in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Ruiz was arrested after police attempted to disperse the protest, though he has claimed he was only arrested for defending an elderly Native American man from police.^[14] Ruiz pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and tumultuous behavior, which were eventually dropped.^[15]

Two years later, in 1999, Ruiz took part in another Thanksgiving protest at which he read a letter of support for Leonard Peltier, who was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. During the 2012 congressional campaign, the incident was used as an attack by his opponent, Mary Bono Mack. In response, Ruiz' campaign stated that he had not supported Peltier.^[15]

Airline Passenger Incident

On October 24, 2013, during a flight home from Washington, D.C., Ruiz used his experience as an emergency room physician to save a collapsed passenger. With the assistance of a firefighter and a flight attendant, the passenger was stabilized until the flight could make an emergency landing in Raleigh, N.C. Another congressman, Pete Gallego, was also onboard and made several positive statements to the media regarding Ruiz' life-saving actions.^[16][17]

References

External links

• Congressman Raul Ruiz official U.S. House site
• Raul Ruiz for Congress
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress