In November 2007, Senator Ruiz became the first Puerto Rican elected to the Senate. Currently Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ruiz is the highest ranking Latina legislator in State history. She previously served as chair of the Senate Education Committee, and held the positions of Assistant Majority Leader from 2010-2017 and Senate President Pro Tempore from 2018-2021.

She is vice chair of the Essex County Democratic Party and is deputy chief of staff to Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. She served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Throughout her time in the Senate, she has fought for equity in educational spaces, acting as the leading force in expanding access to early childhood education throughout the state. She also spearheaded the law to build on the federal free and reduced meal program so that all students who qualify for the program could receive breakfast and lunch at no cost, eliminating the reduced category. Furthermore she has sponsored laws to increase diversity within school curriculum and strengthen the Amistad Commission.

The senator received a bachelor’s degree in English from Drew University. She was a 2010 Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, and a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

Among all of her accomplishments, the title she holds most dear is that of a mother.