CA’s Raul Ruiz Says Latino Politics Are Mainstream Politics
Dr. Raul Ruiz says that he is an emergency room physician first, and his foray into politics as the Democratic candidate for the 36th Congressional District is but another way he can serve his patients. Ruiz’s allegorical American Dream story — the son of farmworkers who became the first Latino to receive three graduate degrees from Harvard and then an emergency room physician in his hometown — is paired with changes in redistricting that make it a possibility that the hometown hero could oust Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono-Mack, who will be seeking her eighth term.
The district changed in the most recent round of redistricting, is now 47% Latino, and runs from Hemet to Blythe, including Palm Springs and Ruiz’s Coachella Valley home. Before redistricting Republicans had a 6% registration advantage over Democrats, he told NewsTaco; now it’s just 1.7%. And while only 27% of registered voters in the district are Latino, there are 40,000 eligible Latinos and a large bloc of independent voters that Ruiz’s campaign is eyeing. That’s not even to mention that President Barack Obama won the district in 2008 by 3%, before the current more Democrat-friendly redistricting.
When Ruiz was considering a run, he took into account not only this Latino voting bloc, but also the LGBT-friendly community of Palm Springs, and the professional community he has inhabited since he returned from Harvard with an M.D., Master’s in Public Health and Master’s in Public Policy. He may be the first Latino congressional candidate in the district, but whether it’s the migrant community or the affluent class of the district, Ruiz told NewsTaco that his dream is to help the people from his home live in a better world.
“I am not a career politician, I love medicine. Congress will give me the toolbox to problem solve and create solutions within the district,” he told us, likening his work as a physician to helping on a micro scale, while from Congress he could work on a macro scale.
Ruiz says his platform “consists of the pillars of the American Dream,” more specifically that means economic development/jobs, education and healthcare. All three are interrelated, he told us, and particularly salient in a district that — at once — has a 50-60% high school dropout rate and where half of the population is 55 and older. Ruiz notes by way of what he would do differently if elected, that Bono-Mack’s vote for the Paul Ryan budget that would’ve eliminated Medicare came at a time when a local study found that 3,000 seniors went without food to pay for medicine.
Ultimately, Ruiz told us he wants to make the biggest difference possible for his community. As a Latino who understands the value of healthcare and education, who values the LGBT community and strives for excellence, he’s hoping to take the American Dream to the next level.
“My American Dream is not only to achieve for myself, but for the entire community,” he told us. “In that sense, Latino politics are mainstream politics”
