Ira Ruskin

Ira Ruskin
Member of the California State Assembly from the 21st district
In office December 6, 2004 – November 30, 2010
Preceded by	Joe Simitian
Succeeded by	Rich Gordon
Personal details
Born	(1943-11-12)November 12, 1943 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	Redwood City, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Cheryl Ruskin
Residence	Redwood City
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley Stanford University
Occupation	Politician

Ira Ruskin (12 November 1943 – 3 July 2014) was an American politician from Redwood City, California. A Democrat, he is a former member of the California State Assembly and of Redwood City Council. He and his wife Cheryl (a licensed landscape designer) resided in Redwood City, California; the couple had no children.

Education

He received a B.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 and an M.A. in communications (with an emphasis on filmmaking) from Stanford University in 1983.

Political career

From 1995 to 2004, Ruskin was a member of the Redwood City Council. From 1999 to 2001, he also served as Mayor of Redwood City. In 2004, Ruskin was elected to the California Assembly. He defeated Republican Steve Poizner in the general election. Ruskin had local government experience but initially lacked major campaign funding. The Assembly race heated up when Poizner donated $6 million to his own campaign. Ruskin began fundraising from California's public employee unions and ultimately won the race.

In November 2006 Ruskin was re-elected to the California State Assembly by a wide margin of 75,388 votes, 67.4% to his challenger Virginia Chang Kiraly's 36,628 votes, (32.6%). He was re-elected to his third Assembly term in 2008. Term limits in California prevented Ruskin from running for re-election in 2010. Ruskin plans to run for a State Senate seat in 2012.

Awards

Ruskin was the recipient of the first-ever award from DAWN (a Democratic feminist organization) to a man for "excellent work performed on behalf of freedom and equality for women." He helped bring attention to the plight of the Bosnian Muslim women in a public forum which included the live transatlantic interview of rape camp survivors. Ruskin became involved in public policy and politics after working on rape as a genocidal weapon in Bosnia.

Death

In May 2011 Ruskin told friends he had been diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor and was withdrawing from the political arena to concentrate on his health. On July 3, 2014, he died at age 70.

External links

• Ira Ruskin Political History, joincalifornia.com; accessed July 6, 2014.
• Ruskin profile, Smart Voter website; accessed July 6, 2014.
• Poizner finally concedes to Ruskin, latc.com, November 10, 2004.
• Ruskin, 1; $4 Million, 0 The Cardinal Inquirer, stanford.edu, November 3, 2004.
• "Ex-Assemblyman Ira Ruskin Succumbs to Brain Tumor", San Jose Inside, July 5, 2014.