Raul Ruiz (/rɑːˈuːl/ rah-OOL; born August 25, 1972) is a physician and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 25th congressional district.

[2] 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.

[6] 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[8] before taking a job as an emergency physician at the Eisenhower Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in the Coachella Valley.

[6][9] 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.

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

[13] 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.

[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, the Lakota.

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.

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."

[25] Ruiz was reelected, defeating Republican challenger Erin Cruz, an author and a candidate for the United States Senate in 2018,[26] with 60.3% of the vote.

[27][28] Due to redistricting, Ruiz chose to run in the newly drawn 25th Congressional district in 2022, citing his roots in Coachella.

[31] In April 2013, Ruiz voted for CISPA, which would allow for the sharing of Internet traffic information between the U.S. government and technology and manufacturing companies.

In 2014, Ruiz voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions 20 or more weeks after fertilization.

"[46] On November 19, 2015, Ruiz voted for HR 4038, legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the United States.