Ernesto Ruffo Appel

Ernesto Ruffo Appel
10th Governor of Baja California
In office
1 November 1989 – 31 October 1995
Preceded byOscar Baylón Chacón
Succeeded byHector Terán Terán
Senator of the Congress of the Union
for Baja California
In office
1 September 2012 – 31 August 2018
Preceded byAlejandro González Alcocer
Succeeded byJaime Bonilla Valdez
Personal details
Born (1952-06-25) 25 June 1952
San Diego, California, U.S.
PartyWe Are Mexico (since 2026)
Other political
affiliations
National Action Party (PAN) (since 1985)
ProfessionBusinessperson

Ernesto Guillermo Ruffo Appel[a] (born 25 June 1952) is a Mexican politician who served as the 10th governor of Baja California from 1989 to 1995. As a member of the National Action Party (PAN), Ruffo was the first state governor not affiliated with the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and its forerunners since 1929. He has served as a member of the Advisory Council of the We Are Mexico party since February 2026.

Life and career

Born to Mexican parents in San Diego, California, U.S., on 25 June 1952,[1] Ruffo attended elementary school in the coastal town of Ensenada in the state of Baja California. He attended the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business. He became a member of the PAN in 1985 and was elected municipal president of the municipality of Ensenada in 1986. In 1989 he was elected governor of the state of Baja California in a major upset in which he defeated the PRI's Margarita Ortega Villa with 52.3% of the votes cast.[2][3]

In 2000, he supported the presidential candidacy of Vicente Fox and, during Fox's administration, was the Coordinator of Migration Affairs for the Northern Border from 2000 to 2003.[4] He was an alternate senator in the 60th and 61st Congresses (2006 to 2012), and he later served as a senator for Baja California in the 62nd and 63rd Congresses (2012 to 2018).[3] In the 2018 general election, he was elected to a plurinominal seat in the Chamber of Deputies for the duration of the 64th Congress.[5]

Ruffo resigned from the PAN's National Executive Committee on 26 October 2018 over the direction the party was taking.[6]

In February 2026, he joined the Advisory Council of We Are Mexico, which later secured its registration as a national political party in June 2026; he did not, however, resign his membership in the PAN.[7][8]

On 16 July 2026, he was arrested in Ensenada on charges related to organized crime and fuel smuggling.[9] The We Are Mexico party demanded his immediate release, accusing the federal government of orchestrating a "smokescreen" to detract public attention from scandals implicating current governor of Baja California Marina del Pilar Ávila.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In this Mexican name, the surname is Ruffo and the second or maternal family name is Appel.

References

  1. ↑ "¿Quién es Ernesto Ruffo? El exgobernador de Baja California detenido por presunto huachicol fiscal". Informador.mx (in Spanish). 17 July 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "¿Quién es Ernesto Ruffo Appel? – Historia" [Who is Ernesto Ruffo Appel? – History]. Cultura Colectiva (in Spanish). 27 March 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Perfil: Sen. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, LXIII Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL) (in Spanish). SEGOB. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  4. ↑ "¿Quién es Ernesto Ruffo Appel? Biografía, trayectoria y por qué fue detenido el exgobernador del PAN" [Who is Ernesto Ruffo Appel? Biography, career, and reason for the arrest of the former PAN governor]. Proceso. 17 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Perfil: Dip. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, LXIV Legislatura". Sistema de Información Legislativa (SIL) (in Spanish). SEGOB. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Ernesto Ruffo renuncia al CEN del PAN". López-Dóriga Digital (in Spanish). 26 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  7. ↑ Islas, Carlos (16 July 2026). "¿Cuál es el vínculo entre Ernesto Ruffo Appel y el nuevo partido Somos México?" [What is the link between Ernesto Ruffo Appel and the new Somos México party?]. Político MX (in Spanish).
  8. 1 2 Canchola, Alejandra (16 July 2026). "Somos México exige liberación inmediata de Ruffo Appel; califica detención como arbitraria e ilegal" [Somos México demands the immediate release of Ruffo Appel, calling his arrest arbitrary and illegal]. El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Castillo, Juan (16 July 2026). "Detienen a Ernesto Ruffo, exgobernador de Baja California, por delincuencia organizada y huachicol fiscal". Infobae.
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