Ernesto Ruffo Appel (born 25 June 1952) is a Mexican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who served as the 10th governor of Baja California 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, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

not affiliated with the ruling

Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...

(PRI) since 1929. Born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California, to Mexican parents, Ruffo attended elementary school in the coastal town of Ensenada in the state of

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. He attended college at the

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

campus of the

ITESM Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM; ), also known as Technological Institute of Monterrey () or just Tec, is aresearch university based in Monterrey, Mexico, which has grown to include 35 campuses located across 25 cit ...

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 during the Spanish and American colonial periods; it is comparable to a mayor of the tow ...

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 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the Nat ...

, former president of Mexico, he was the Coordinator of Migration Affairs for the Northern Border until 2006, when Mexican president

'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 website

Ruffo 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 20th-century Mexican politicians Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) for Baja California Senators of the LXII and LXIII Legislatures of Mexico {{Mexico-politician-NationalAction-stub