Teresa Ruiz (politician)
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Maria Teresa Ruiz (born June 28, 1974) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has represented the 29th Legislative District in the
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
since taking office on January 8, 2008. She has served as the Senate Majority Leader since 2022, becoming the first
Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...
to lead either the Assembly or Senate, after succeeding
Loretta Weinberg Loretta Weinberg (born February 6, 1935) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey Senate from 2005-2022, where she represented the 37th Legislative District. She also served as Senate Majority Leader. ...
upon her retirement from the Senate.


Education

Born and raised in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Our Lady of Good Counsel High School. In 1998, Ruiz received a
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
from
Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...
in English.


New Jersey Senate

With
Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...
not running for re-election to the Senate seat in the 29th District, Ruiz won the support of
Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. se ...
and James' son. Ruiz won the June 2007 Democratic primary, running unopposed. In the November 2007 general election, Ruiz and her Assembly running mates Alberto Coutinho and L. Grace Spencer won the three seats from the district. Ruiz won with 57.8% of the vote, defeating five other candidates, including Democrats-running-as independents Luis Quintana (with 15.9%) in second place and William D. Payne (with 15.7%) who came in third. Ruiz took office in the Senate in January 2008.


Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:Senator M. Teresa Ruiz
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
*Legislative Oversight, Vice-Chair *Joint Budget Oversight *Joint Committee on Economic Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity *Budget and Appropriations


District 29

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the
New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...
. The representatives from the 29th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 29
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022.
* Senator Teresa Ruiz (D) * Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D) * Assemblywoman Shanique Speight (D)


Election history


References


External links


Senator Ruiz's Legislative Website
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201220112010200920082007
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Teresa 1974 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Drew University alumni Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New Jersey Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Politicians from Newark, New Jersey Puerto Rican people in New Jersey politics Women state legislators in New Jersey