Ernesto Ruffo Appel (born 25 June 1952) is a Mexican
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
, who served as the 10th
Governor of Baja California
The governor of Baja California represents the executive branch of the government of the state of Baja California, Mexico, per the state's constitution. The official title is "Free and Sovereign State of Baja California" (''Estado Libre y Soberan ...
from 1989 to 1995. A member of the
National Action Party (PAN), Ruffo was the first
state governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
not affiliated with the ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party
The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, ; abbr. PRI) is a political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 and held uninterrupted power in the country for 71 years, from 1929 to 2000, first as the Nati ...
(PRI) since 1929.
Born in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, to Mexican parents, Ruffo attended elementary school in the coastal town of
Ensenada in the state of
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
. He attended college at the
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
campus of the
ITESM
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) ( en, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education), also known as Tecnológico de Monterrey or just Tec, is a secular and coeducational private university based in ...
graduating with a bachelor's degree in business. He became a member of PAN in 1982 and was elected
municipal president
A ''presidente municipal'' (English: "municipal president") is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. This title was also used in the Philippines under the Spanish and American colonization; it is comparable to a mayor of the town or city ...
of the
municipality of Ensenada (the biggest municipality in Mexico with 51,952 km²) in 1986.
In 1989 he was elected governor of the state of Baja California in a major
upset. In the year 2000, he supported the candidacy of
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...
, former President of Mexico, he was the Coordinator of Migration Affairs for the Northern Border until 2006, when Mexican President
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...
's government ended. He was a
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
supply in the
LX legislature, and served one term as a Senator for Baja California in the
LXII and
LXIII legislatures from 2012 to 2018.
References
External links
Biography at the PAN's official websiteRuffo at the Mexico´s Senate official website.Biographies of the governors of Baja California
1952 births
Living people
Municipal presidents of Ensenada
Governors of Baja California
History of Baja California
Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education alumni
National Action Party (Mexico) politicians
Politicians from San Diego
American emigrants to Mexico
21st-century Mexican politicians
American people of Mexican descent
20th-century Mexican politicians
Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) for Baja California
Senators of the LXII and LXIII Legislatures of Mexico
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