Susan Rubio worked as a public school teacher and Baldwin Park elected official before entering the California Legislature in 2018. She began her teaching career in the Baldwin Park Unified School District, became Baldwin Park’s elected city clerk and a council member, and won a State Senate seat in 2018. She represents the 22nd District in eastern Los Angeles County, including Alhambra, Arcadia and Baldwin Park. In Sacramento, her assignments include insurance, housing, health, transportation and utilities. Her legislative record includes domestic violence measures addressing the statute of limitations in certain cases, police training, hotline information on student identification cards and evidence of coercive control.
ROOTS AND THE CLASSROOM
Rubio was born Dec. 25, 1970, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Her parents came to the United States twice without proper documentation. The family first settled in Texas and was deported in 1975 after about two years. They returned to the United States in 1977, again without legal status, and settled in Los Angeles.
Rubio became a U.S. citizen in 1994 after being sponsored by her youngest sister, Sylvia, who was born in El Paso. Rubio has Jewish ancestry and is a member of both the Latino Legislative Caucus and the Legislative Jewish Caucus.
She attended East Los Angeles College and earned an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in education from Azusa Pacific University. Rubio began her teaching career in the Baldwin Park Unified School District and taught in the Monrovia Unified School District for 17 years.
FROM BALDWIN PARK TO SACRAMENTO
Rubio’s first elected office was Baldwin Park city clerk, a post she won in 2005. She was elected to the City Council in 2009 and reelected in 2013. In 2018, after finishing second in the State Senate primary, she defeated former Assemblyman Mike Eng in the November runoff.
Rubio is chair of the Senate Insurance Committee and Senate assistant majority whip. She serves on committees covering Energy, Utilities and Communications; Health; Transportation; and Governmental Organization. She is also a member of the Senate Housing Group and co-chair of the Wildfire Working Group.
She chairs the Senate Select Committee on Domestic Violence. Her other select-committee assignments include children’s well-being, Asian Pacific Islander affairs, mental health, California-Mexico cooperation, and California, Armenia and Artsakh mutual trade, art and cultural exchange. Her caucus memberships include the Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley and Legislative Women’s caucuses, along with the Latino and Jewish caucuses.
THE RECORD
In December 2024, a plea agreement was unsealed revealing that somebody fitting Rubio’s description was part of a cannabis-involved corruption investigation in 2018. Rubio was not specifically named and denied wrongdoing. The Los Angeles Times reported that she was the only person who fit the description in the agreement. Assemblyman Bill Essayli called for an ethics investigation against her, sending the request to the leaders of the California Assembly and Senate.
Rubio divorced former Assemblyman Roger Hernández in 2016 after winning a restraining order due to allegations of several domestic violence incidents during their marriage. Her sister, Blanca Rubio, is a California state assemblywoman.
Rubio remains a registered voter in Baldwin Park and lives in Sacramento, where she owns property.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Domestic violence is a recurring part of Rubio’s legislative record. In February 2019, she introduced SB 273, the Phoenix Act. Signed into law, it lengthened the statute of limitations from three years to five in certain domestic violence cases and required additional police training on dealing with such cases.
Rubio also passed SB 316, requiring the National Domestic Violence Hotline number to be printed on the back of student identification cards. In 2020, she passed SB 1141, allowing domestic violence victims to use evidence of psychologically damaging or abusive behavior, commonly called coercive control, in Family Court or criminal proceedings.
Together, the measures lengthened the statute of limitations in certain domestic violence cases, required additional police training, placed hotline information on the back of student identification cards and allowed evidence of psychologically damaging or abusive behavior in Family Court or criminal proceedings.
- State Senate · Senate District 22 · 2018–present
Susan Rubio worked as a public school teacher and Baldwin Park elected official before entering the California Legislature in 2018. She began her teaching career in the Baldwin Park Unified School District, became Baldwin Park’s elected city clerk and a council member, and won a State Senate seat in 2018. She represents the 22nd District in eastern Los Angeles County, including Alhambra, Arcadia and Baldwin Park. In Sacramento, her assignments include insurance, housing, health, transportation and utilities. Her legislative record includes domestic violence measures addressing the statute of limitations in certain cases, police training, hotline information on student identification cards and evidence of coercive control.
ROOTS AND THE CLASSROOM
Rubio was born Dec. 25, 1970, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Her parents came to the United States twice without proper documentation. The family first settled in Texas and was deported in 1975 after about two years. They returned to the United States in 1977, again without legal status, and settled in Los Angeles.
Rubio became a U.S. citizen in 1994 after being sponsored by her youngest sister, Sylvia, who was born in El Paso. Rubio has Jewish ancestry and is a member of both the Latino Legislative Caucus and the Legislative Jewish Caucus.
She attended East Los Angeles College and earned an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in education from Azusa Pacific University. Rubio began her teaching career in the Baldwin Park Unified School District and taught in the Monrovia Unified School District for 17 years.
FROM BALDWIN PARK TO SACRAMENTO
Rubio’s first elected office was Baldwin Park city clerk, a post she won in 2005. She was elected to the City Council in 2009 and reelected in 2013. In 2018, after finishing second in the State Senate primary, she defeated former Assemblyman Mike Eng in the November runoff.
Rubio is chair of the Senate Insurance Committee and Senate assistant majority whip. She serves on committees covering Energy, Utilities and Communications; Health; Transportation; and Governmental Organization. She is also a member of the Senate Housing Group and co-chair of the Wildfire Working Group.
She chairs the Senate Select Committee on Domestic Violence. Her other select-committee assignments include children’s well-being, Asian Pacific Islander affairs, mental health, California-Mexico cooperation, and California, Armenia and Artsakh mutual trade, art and cultural exchange. Her caucus memberships include the Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley and Legislative Women’s caucuses, along with the Latino and Jewish caucuses.
THE RECORD
In December 2024, a plea agreement was unsealed revealing that somebody fitting Rubio’s description was part of a cannabis-involved corruption investigation in 2018. Rubio was not specifically named and denied wrongdoing. The Los Angeles Times reported that she was the only person who fit the description in the agreement. Assemblyman Bill Essayli called for an ethics investigation against her, sending the request to the leaders of the California Assembly and Senate.
Rubio divorced former Assemblyman Roger Hernández in 2016 after winning a restraining order due to allegations of several domestic violence incidents during their marriage. Her sister, Blanca Rubio, is a California state assemblywoman.
Rubio remains a registered voter in Baldwin Park and lives in Sacramento, where she owns property.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Domestic violence is a recurring part of Rubio’s legislative record. In February 2019, she introduced SB 273, the Phoenix Act. Signed into law, it lengthened the statute of limitations from three years to five in certain domestic violence cases and required additional police training on dealing with such cases.
Rubio also passed SB 316, requiring the National Domestic Violence Hotline number to be printed on the back of student identification cards. In 2020, she passed SB 1141, allowing domestic violence victims to use evidence of psychologically damaging or abusive behavior, commonly called coercive control, in Family Court or criminal proceedings.
Together, the measures lengthened the statute of limitations in certain domestic violence cases, required additional police training, placed hotline information on the back of student identification cards and allowed evidence of psychologically damaging or abusive behavior in Family Court or criminal proceedings.
The record
3,885 events, each with its sourceSpecial Consent SB1368 Wahab
Special Consent SB1378 Ochoa Bogh
Special Consent SB1382 Alvarado-Gil et al
Special Consent SB1387 Stern et al
Special Consent SB1394 Limón
Special Consent SB1401 Stern
Special Consent SB1412 Rubio
Special Consent SB1421 McGuire
Special Consent SB1424 Archuleta
Special Consent SB1435 REV. & TAX. (McNerney)
Special Consent SB1446 PUB. S. (Arreguín)
Senate 3rd Reading SR102 Richardson
Senate 3rd Reading SR107 Weber Pierson
Senate 2nd Reading SR115 Cabaldon
Senate 3rd Reading SCR172 Niello et al. By Ochoa Bogh
Senate 3rd Reading SCR177 Weber Pierson et al
Assembly 3rd Reading AB1768 Bryan et al. By Durazo Urgency Clause
Senate 3rd Reading SB877 Pérez et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB951 Reyes
Senate 3rd Reading SB1013 Cervantes
Senate 3rd Reading SB1030 Smallwood-Cuevas
Senate 3rd Reading SB1046 Blakespear et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB1091 Caballero et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB1112 Archuleta
Senate 3rd Reading SB1116 Caballero
Senate 3rd Reading SB1164 Cervantes
Senate 3rd Reading SB1201 McNerney et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB1218 Arreguín et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB1312 Richardson
Senate 3rd Reading SCR171 McNerney et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB868 Wiener et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB872 McNerney et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB874 Weber Pierson
Senate 3rd Reading SB881 McNerney et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB884 Umberg et al. Urgency Clause
Senate 3rd Reading SB891 Cervantes et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB899 Grove et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB903 Padilla et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB908 Wiener et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB931 Laird et al. Urgency Clause
Senate 3rd Reading SB934 Wiener et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB943 Becker et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB944 Wiener et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB947 McNerney et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB950 Weber Pierson et al
Senate 3rd Reading SB957 Pérez
Senate 3rd Reading SB959 Grayson et al. Urgency Clause
Senate 3rd Reading SB964 Smallwood-Cuevas
Senate 3rd Reading SB988 Grayson
Senate 3rd Reading SB991 Menjivar et al