Raul Ruiz: Ready to 'Get to Work' in Next Congress

PALM DESERT, CA — Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Indio, headed into an eighth term in Congress Wednesday after an easy victory over his Republican challenger, Hemet Mayor Joes Males.

Though ballot tabulations were ongoing Wednesday morning, results showed Ruiz maintaining a lead of 64% to Males' 36% for the election in the 25th District, making the deficit for the challenger an impossible hurdle to overcome.

"Now the work starts," Ruiz said via social media. "Americans turned out, and our voices were heard. Let's get to work."

Males had not released any public statements Wednesday.

The 25th District extends just north of Interstate 40 in San Bernardino County, south to the Mexican border in Imperial County, east to the Arizona state line and a two-branch western boundary, the lower half of which extends into the Hemet Valley, while the upper part curves into the San Gorgonio Pass via Desert Hot Springs, north of Interstate 10.

Ruiz was first elected to Congress in 2012, after defeating then- incumbent Mary Bono. The general practitioner said in campaign literature that he's "furious" with the Trump administration over the "tariffs and war in Iran (that) have increased prices for gas, cars and appliances."

The congressman said he's dedicated to "lowering the cost of living" through legislation and "improving Medi-Cal coverage for thousands of local families."

The issues page of his campaign website also listed environmental protection, lowering out-of-pocket expenses for overall medical services and facilitating veterans with access to government services as priorities.

Males, a former U.S. Marine who was first elected to the Hemet City Council in 2020, said in his campaign statement that he ran for Congress "to bring leadership and commonsense solutions to Washington for the people of the Inland Empire."

The mayor lost one of his two sons in a knife attack outside a Hemet bar in 2016, and he has cited that experience as one of the driving factors behind his desire to serve in government.

"I've always been a person that gets things done," the congressional candidate said, adding that he stands "for public safety and the rule of law."

He acknowledged publicly that Congress cannot be the sole instrument for curing all social ills, but he asserted his belief in holding down "federal taxes, spending and regulations."