[5][3] In the 2002 Victorian state election, Ruffell contested the division Bendigo East but failed to defeat the incumbent Labor member Jacinta Allan.
Ruffell was elected to the City of Greater Bendigo council in the 2008 election in the Epsom Ward, achieving 32.34% of the primary vote and 63.38% of the two candidate preferred vote, defeating incumbent councilor Trudi McClure, also a member of the Liberal Party.
[10] In 2013, while serving as mayor, Ruffell began a long running dispute between fellow councillors Elise Chapman and Helen Leach.
[11] A review by a councillor conduct panel later concluded that Ruffell had denied the pair natural justice in the council's handling of the complaint, however the misconduct finding was later overturned.
[13] The dispute was solved through a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal mediation with Ruffell giving an apology from the council.