Born in San Diego, California, to Mexican parents, Ruffo attended elementary school in the coastal town of Ensenada in the state of Baja California. He attended college at the Monterrey campus of the ITESM graduating with a bachelor's degree in business. He became a member of PAN in 1982 and was elected municipal president of the municipality of Ensenada (the biggest municipality in Mexico with 51,952 km2) in 1986. In 1989 he was elected governor of the state of Baja California in a major upset. In the year 2000, he supported the candidacy of Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, he was the Coordinator of Migration Affairs for the Northern Border until 2006, when Mexican President Vicente Fox's government ended. He was a Senate supply in the LX legislature, and served one term as a Senator for Baja California in the LXII and LXIII legislatures from 2012 to 2018.
