M. Teresa Ruiz

M. Teresa Ruiz is the New Jersey Senate Majority Leader, the highest-ranking Latina legislator in state history. Born and raised in Newark to a Puerto Rican father who immigrated with only a fourth-grade education, she was the first Puerto Rican elected to the New Jersey Senate when she won her seat in 2007. Her father Silvestre, who worked at a cheese factory for 95 cents an hour and later in construction, inspired her lifelong focus on educational equity. She entered politics after his death, determined to bring diverse voices to a political stage she saw as too homogeneous.

Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Father Silvestre immigrated from Puerto Rico with a fourth-grade education, working at a cheese factory for 95 cents an hour, busing tables, owning a bodega, and later in construction at a cardboard factory. His death in a traffic accident spurred her entry into politics. Married to Samuel Gonzalez (former Essex County freeholder); daughter Silver Inaru, named after her late father and deceased sister-in-law ("Inaru" means "spirit of a woman" in indigenous Puerto Rican culture).