Raul Ruiz

The district had previously been the 45th, represented by 15-year incumbent Mary Bono Mack and previously by her late husband Sonny Bono.

Ruiz was initially regarded as a long shot to win.

Raul Ruiz (born August 25, 1972) is an American physician and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 25th congressional district.

He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Zacatecas City, Mexico, Ruiz grew up in Coachella, California.

He was the first Latino to receive three graduate degrees from Harvard University, attending Harvard Medical School, the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard School of Public Health.

He graduated from Coachella Valley High School at age 17 and went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1990, graduating magna cum laude before attending Harvard Medical School (HMS).

He was the first Latino to receive three graduate degrees from Harvard University: a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from HMS, a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) from the Harvard School of Public Health.

On the tape, supposedly recorded at a 1999 Thanksgiving rally, 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, the Lakota. 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 that he did not support Peltier.

After graduating from Harvard, Ruiz spent time working abroad in Mexico, El Salvador, and Serbia, and completed emergency medicine residency training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2006 before taking a job as an emergency physician at the Eisenhower Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in the Coachella Valley.

He worked as an emergency physician at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, before assisting humanitarian efforts in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

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.

In what was considered a major upset, Ruiz defeated redistricted incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Mary Bono in the 2012 election with 52.9% of the vote.

In 2012, Ruiz 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.

Ruiz ran for the United States House of Representatives in 2012 as a first-time candidate in CA's 36th congressional district.

He was endorsed by Bill Clinton in October 2012.

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.

He was elected with 52.9% of the vote to Bono Mack's 47.1%.

During the 2012 campaign, Bono Mack "accused Ruiz of being a far-left radical and repeatedly referred to Ruiz's 1997 arrest in Massachusetts while participating in a Thanksgiving Day protest against the treatment of American Indians."

She stated that Ruiz "dressed in Aztec warrior colors", had taken part in these Thanksgiving Day protests for six years, and "encouraged people to smash Plymouth Rock."

At a debate, Bono Mack asked "Dr. Ruiz, who are you?"

At an October 2012 press conference, Bono Mack campaign officials released an audiotape on which Ruiz expressed solidarity with convicted police murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal and read a letter of support for Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in 1977 of murdering two FBI agents in South Dakota.

"If the growing sway of Latinos in American politics was the story of election 2012", wrote Politico 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 told Politico that his victory was "a reflection of America."

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.

He then faced the Republican nominee, state assemblyman Brian Nestande, in the November 4 general election.

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%.

He was reelected in 2014 with 54.2% of the vote, after what was considered one of the most competitive congressional races in the country; in 2016 and 2018, he received about 60% of the vote.

Ruiz was born in Zacatecas City, Mexico, and raised in Coachella, California.

His parents were farm workers.

Ruiz's 2016 campaign focused largely on his successful attempt to secure funds for the Salton Sea Red Hill Bay restoration project and his efforts on behalf of veterans.

Ruiz was elected to a third term in November, receiving 60% of the vote, over Republican state Senator Jeff Stone.

After winning, Ruiz spoke critically about "the politics of fear" and "hateful rhetoric."

Addressing his supporters in Rancho 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."