Endorsement: Elect Raul Ruiz for U.S. House 25th District

Redistricting has redrawn the U.S. Congressional maps in Southern California. For years, the 36th district encompassed the entire Coachella Valley; now, our area is split between two districts — the 41st, and the 25th.

The 25th covers eastern Coachella Valley, all of Imperial County and a sliver of eastern San Bernardino County. Democrat Dr. Raul Ruiz, the holder of the 36th District seat since he upset Mary Bono in 2012, is running in that district this year, and is being challenged by the Rev. Brian Hawkins, a San Jacinto City Council member and a Republican.

Ruiz, a native of the east valley and an emergency room physician, is by far the superior candidate and we strongly urge voters to choose him Nov. 8.

Residents of this area have seen Ruiz back their concerns, from making sure we got early COVID medical supplies, to lobbying strongly for more federal funding to address the Salton Sea crisis, to working across multiple bureaucracies to try to bring clean drinking water to impoverished east valley communities.

He’s advocated for veterans, at long last this year winning passage for legislation that will get vets suffering from burn pit exposure the care they need and deserve.

On many key issues, Ruiz’s cogent and almost clinical approach to problems and policymaking contrasts sharply with Hawkins’ uninformed and frequently incoherent positions.

For example, when our Editorial Board asked both men what they would do to ensure that the Southwest United States continues to have adequate water resources to support people, industry, and agriculture during this historic drought, Hawkins said, “we don’t have a water shortage” and noted “two-thirds of our country is surrounded by water.”

“Because we are shutting it off and controlling the flow of it, … it creates a demand and that causes a panic,” he said.

Huh?

Ruiz, in contrast, is living on planet Earth, acknowledging the obvious — “the reality is we have drought” — and speaking to nuanced aspects of the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan and how he worked on specific language to lessen the impact of cuts on our agriculture and tourism industries and the Salton Sea. Ruiz also supported the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which includes billions for conservation and fallowing programs.

Of course, serving in Congress is not just about watching out for your own backyard. We entrust our representatives to make thoughtful decisions on national security and foreign policy, for example. In that case, Hawkins gives us grave concern.

For example, asked what he would do to ensure that another Jan. 6-type incident does not occur, Hawkins downplayed the violence and said:   “Our nation was established by the Revolutionary War. We were established because of grievances. And if you are not willing to listen to the grievances of the people who elected you — every American who has a right to vote has a right to speak. We are politicizing the Jan. 6, we are making this all about the election right now, but at the end of the day to hide from any American, to shelter yourself in any room where you actually have people want to come and speak to you, I don’t have that kind of cowardice.”

Ruiz — who himself was in the Capitol during the violent attack — said:  “Jan. 6 was not about listening to the American people, it was about a coordinated effort by multiple organizations and people inside government to illegally keep a president in office, and the coordinated effort to use violence and aggression in order to do so in violation of our constitution. Not being willing to speak to the issue directly and confront it is cowardice.”

Asked about what further steps, if any, they would support on Ukraine, Hawkins and Ruiz similarly gave two radically different answers.

Ruiz, expressing support for continued humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine wear down the Russian military, said:  “We have to support the people of Ukraine, who are standing up against this thug, Vladimir Putin, who has declared this illegal war on Ukraine and has wreaked havoc globally on our economy, raising inflation and the cost of gas, but more so for the moral and humanitarian reasons to protect democracy. Democracy is under a big threat globally … and we need to stand up.” Ruiz himself traveled to Europe with a bipartisan delegation to advise on the humanitarian aspects of the refugee crisis.

Hawkins, meanwhile, refused to answer directly, said he was “more concerned with the war on poverty than the war in Ukraine” and hyperbolically added, “We are focusing on Ukraine and America is one moment away from extinction.” He then went on to decry what he called the “war on marriages” and the high U.S. divorce rate.

What?

Beyond this, the Editorial Board wishes to note that Hawkins violated the spirit of the ground rules of our endorsement interview. While the interview was recorded by the board for our note-taking purposes and was considered on the record — meaning candidates could be quoted — candidates were informed The Desert Sun did not intend to publish the audio or video of the session. Hawkins, without asking any of the other participants, recorded the audio of the session and posted it online, misleadingly referring to it as a “debate,” which it was not. Such a move was duplicitous and disrespectful of all participants, and falls far below the standard of behavior we expect from an elected official, let alone a pastor.

Hawkins is unfit to serve in Congress. In an era of bombastic politicians spewing a lot of nonsense, Ruiz’s calm, rational and sometimes almost bland approach is what we could use more of in Washington.

Ruiz will be an effective representative for the newly drawn 25th District and we endorse him without reserve.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: U.S. House 25th District: Elect Raul Ruiz; Hawkins unfit