Susan Rubio
Susan Rubio (born December 25, 1970) is an American politician serving in the California State Senate. A Democrat, she represents the 22nd Senate District in eastern Los Angeles County. Prior to being elected to the California Legislature in 2018, she was an elected official for the City of Baldwin Park for 13 years and a public school teacher for 17 years. She is the first Latina Chair of the State Senate Insurance Committee, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Domestic Violence, and Senate Assistant Majority Whip. Education. Rubio attended East Los Angeles College (ELAC) and earned an  undergraduate degree and a master's degree in Education from Azusa Pacific University. Earlier career. Rubio started her teaching career in Baldwin Park Unified School District and was a teacher at Monrovia Unified School District for 17 years. Rubio was first elected as City Clerk in Baldwin Park in 2005. In 2009, she was elected to the Baldwin Park City Council and reelected in 2013. California State Senate. Rubio represents the 22nd Senate district in eastern Los Angeles County. In 2018, she finished in second place over Baldwin Park City Councilwoman Monica Garcia in the primary, then won November runoff  against former state Assemblyman Mike Eng. Her district comprises the cities of Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, El Monte, Industry, Irwindale, La Puente, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead, South El Monte, Temple City and West Covina as well as the unincorporated communities of Avocado Heights, Charter Oak, Citrus, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Mayflower Village, North El Monte, South Monrovia Island, South San Gabriel, South San Jose Hills, Valinda, Vincent and West Puente Valley. She is Chair of the Senate Insurance Committee and committee member of Energy, Utilities, Communications; Health; Transportation; and Governmental Organization.  She is a member of  the Senate Housing Group and was recently appointed as Senate Assistant Majority Whip. She is Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Domestic Violence and Co-Chair of the Wildfire Working group. She is also a Select Committee member of The Social Determinants of Children’s Well-Being; Asian Pacific Islander Affairs; Mental Health; California-Mexico Cooperation; and California, Armenia and Artsakh Mutual Trade, Art and Cultural Exchange. Rubio is a Member of the Latino Legislative Caucus, Legislative Jewish Caucus, Los Angeles Caucus, San Gabriel Valley Caucus and Legislative Women’s Caucus. Domestic violence legislation. In February 2019, Rubio introduced  SB 273, The Phoenix Act, a bill intended to help victims of domestic violence by lengthening the state of limitations from 3 to 5 years in certain cases and requiring additional police training on dealing with such cases. It was signed into law. She also passed SB 316, which requires the number of the National Domestic Violence Hotline to be printed on the back of student ID cards. In 2020, she passed SB 1141, which allows domestic violence victims to use evidence of psychologically damaging or abusive behavior, commonly referred to as coercive control, as evidence in Family Court or  criminal proceedings. Personal life. Rubio was born in Juarez, Mexico and is the daughter of immigrant parents. Rubio's father moved the family to a little town in Texas where they lived illegally for about two years. She and her family were deported to Juarez in 1975 and returned to the US several years later again as undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles. She became a U.S. citizen in 1994 after being sponsored by her youngest sister, Sylvia, who was born in El Paso. Her ex-husband is former Assemblyman Roger Hernández, whom she divorced in 2016 after winning a restraining  order due to allegations of several domestic violence incidents during their marriage, including "pushing, shoving, and choking" her. Her sister is California State Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio. Rubio resides in Baldwin Park, California.