Ruben Barrales (born April 14, 1962) is the former Deputy Assistant to President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and was also the Director of the

Office of Intergovernmental Affairs The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) is a unit of the White House Office, within the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President. It serves as the primary liaison between the White ...

.Back Home, in a Way, for Ex-Supe, 12/17/06,

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

He then served as the CEO of the San Diego Regional

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. He is currently the President and CEO of GROW Elect, a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

that recruits, endorses, trains, and funds Latino Republican candidates for public office.He also serves on the board of directors for the

Public Policy Institute of California The Public Policy Institute of California is an independent, non-profit research institution. Based in San Francisco, California, the institute was established in 1994 by Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard, Roger Heyns, and Arjay Miller, with a ...

. Barrales has also run as a candidate for the state government post of

California State Controller The state controller of California is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of California, government of the U.S. state of California. Thirty-three individuals have held the office of state controller since statehood. T ...

. Barrales identifies as a

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

and is recognized as the first Latino person to serve on the

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is the five-member elected body that supervises the operation of San Mateo County, California. Board members represent one of five districts of roughly equal population within the county, elected, since a ...

. Barrales has also appeared in the Hispanic Business Magazine's "100 Most Influential Hispanics" list on three occasions within the last ten years

Early life and education

Ruben Barrales was born on April 14, 1962. He is the son of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

immigrants from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and was raised in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

. His father owned a roofing company. His father was paralyzed from a fall from a roof during a roofing job during Ruben's youth. He attended Nativity Catholic School in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

and graduated from Junípero Serra High School in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

in 1980. He graduated from the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

with a BA in political science in administrative studies.

Political career

Barrales was first registered as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

before he ran for San Mateo County Supervisor. In 1992, he was elected

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

Supervisor, and became the first elected Latino Supervisor in the county. He was re-elected in 1996. As a county Supervisor, he helped lower crime in

East Palo Alto East Palo Alto ( ; abbreviated E.P.A.) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of East Palo Alto was 30,034. It is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula, roughly halfway between the cit ...

by collaborating with Sheriff Don Horsley and other cities to form the Gang Suppression Task Force. This was needed in East Palo Alto, a city that the

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considered the

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

capital of the United States in 1992, after 42 killings took place that year.A Future Perfect: The Challenge and Promise of Globalization, by John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge, 2003, He also supported the citizens of Redwood City in bringing the Shot Spotter to Redwood City to reduce random gun fire. Redwood City was instrumental in the development of the Gunshot Location System, which was possible through funding by San Mateo County and the major portion by the City of Redwood City. In 1998, Barrales was the Republican candidate for

, though he failed to unseat

Kathleen Connell Kathleen Connell is an American businesswoman, journalist, entrepreneur, and academic. She was the California State Controller from 1995 until 2003. She was the first woman to serve in the position. As controller she served as a trustee of Cal ...

. He received 2,652,115 votes (33%) to Connell's 4,874,097 votes (61%). Although he lost, the run for California State Controller gained him national attention. In 2001, he was appointed as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the White House by President George W. Bush.

Private sector

After one and a half-terms on the county board of supervisors, he moved to the private sector, becoming President and CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. Following his stint in the White House he became President and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in December 2006.

Notation

* Barrales is listed among the 100 most influential

Hispanics The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly appli ...

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Mark Baldassare, California in the New Millennium, ''The Changing Social and Political Landscape'', UC Berkeley Press, @2000 The Regents of the University of California, * Barrales served as a member of the Speaker's Commission on the California Initiative Process. * Barrales served as Advisor for the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. * Barrales served as Vice-Chairman of the California Commission on Local Governance for the 21st Century. * Barrales served as a member of the California Speaker's Commission on State and Local Government Finance. * Barrales was recently featured in

San Diego Magazine ''San Diego Magazine'' is a multi-platform media company covering food, arts and culture, travel, health and wellness, social progress, and life in San Diego County, California. Its flagship monthly magazine has won multiple regional and national ...

for his contributions to the strength of the Latino community in San Diego.

Personal life

He is married and has two kids, Ryan and Rachel.

Community service

He was a founding member of Garfield Charter School,http://www.garfield.rcsd.k12.ca.us/ in the Redwood City Elementary School District. Garfield Charter School was one of the first charter schools in California. He was instrumental in getting Garfield's Charter and secured funding for the first years. He also served as Director of the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center.PCRC - Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center
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References

External links

Smart Voter Election Results
- smartvoter.org

- smartvoter.org
San Mateo Board of Supervisors

Redwood City was instrumental in the development of the Gunshot Location System.

* http://www.garfield.rcsd.k12.ca.us/ Garfield Charter School {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrales, Ruben 1961 births California Republicans George W. Bush administration personnel Junípero Serra High School (San Mateo, California) alumni Living people American politicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American people in California politics People from Redwood City, California Politicians from San Diego San Mateo County Supervisors University of California, Riverside alumni