Jay Ruby

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Jay Ruby
Image of Jay Ruby
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Antioch College, 1989

Graduate

Prescott College, 2021

Personal
Birthplace
Uniontown, Pa.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Director
Contact

Jay Ruby (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Arizona House of Representatives to represent District 1. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Ruby completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Jay Ruby was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch College in 1989 and a graduate degree from Prescott College in 2021. His career experience includes working as a theater director and performer. Ruby founded the Tsunami on the Square Arts and Culture Festival, the Carpetbag Brigade Physical Theater Company, and the Global Stilt Congress.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Arizona House of Representatives District 1 (2 seats)

Incumbent Selina Bliss and incumbent Quang Nguyen defeated Marcia Smith and Jay Ruby in the general election for Arizona House of Representatives District 1 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Selina Bliss
Selina Bliss (R) Candidate Connection
 
33.9
 
88,691
Image of Quang Nguyen
Quang Nguyen (R)
 
33.5
 
87,726
Image of Marcia Smith
Marcia Smith (D) Candidate Connection
 
16.9
 
44,199
Image of Jay Ruby
Jay Ruby (D) Candidate Connection
 
15.6
 
40,911

Total votes: 261,527
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 1 (2 seats)

Marcia Smith and Jay Ruby advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 1 on July 30, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Marcia Smith
Marcia Smith Candidate Connection
 
53.4
 
16,516
Image of Jay Ruby
Jay Ruby Candidate Connection
 
46.6
 
14,397

Total votes: 30,913
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 1 (2 seats)

Incumbent Quang Nguyen and incumbent Selina Bliss defeated Shawn Wildman in the Republican primary for Arizona House of Representatives District 1 on July 30, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Quang Nguyen
Quang Nguyen
 
44.3
 
38,264
Image of Selina Bliss
Selina Bliss Candidate Connection
 
39.4
 
34,074
Shawn Wildman
 
16.3
 
14,117

Total votes: 86,455
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ruby in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Jay Ruby completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ruby's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am an actor and director who is passionate about culture serving community. I am a son of the American Revolution – with deep roots in Pennsylvania. I came to Arizona three decades ago as a Rust Belt refugee with Appalachian values: invest in the community, help others, question authority. My favorite founding father said, “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” I admired Benjamin Franklin for that quote and for advocating to abolish slavery in our original constitution.

I founded The Carpetbag Brigade Physical Theater Company and the Tsunami on the Square performing arts festival. As the creative and communications leader of an internationally touring theater company I facilitated cross-cultural exchanges and global seminars, I led teams to success in complex, demanding environments with tight deadlines and competing priorities. I bring people together through events and stories.

My performance work inspires productive discussions and creates experiences and forums to engage, build, and sustain community. Our legislature can be improved by learning to function like an ensemble theater with critical thinking and skillful listening. I want to renew the art of dialogue in our legislature and improve our quality of life. I look forward to serving you.
  • WATER - We need to enact long term policies that protect Arizona's water supply through conservation, recharge and catchment. Our water policy should be updated to empower the activation of rural management areas so that we increase the stakeholder input in water policy and recognize the necessity of achieving safe yield. This will require lawmakers with the courage to write bills that have consequences for overdrafting and allocate adequate resources to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. We must successfully administer the desired policies of rural management areas through public dialogue, constructive education, efficient measurement and disciplined enforcement. You can't manage what you don't measure!
  • PROTECT OUR LAND from toxic mining interests...foreign and domestic. - If I was in the state legislature I would push for laws that give adjacency rights for municipalities to approve or deny mining permits that would impact the quality of life for local citizens. We need to develop fair guidelines for mining companies to pay for the use of our water and financially commit to clean up wastewater from mines. Adequately funding the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is essential. We need our first line of defense to be robust and vigilant so that ADEQ can protect our land against toxic mining interests.
  • FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY - The twin pillars of fiscal responsibility are: Don't spend money you don't have and When you have money spend it for the benefit of everyone. Instead of Misappropriations for city rodeos let's fund fire departments so that we can keep our property insurance rates affordable. Let's rein in ESA voucher giveaways so we don't bankrupt our state further. Fair taxation, keep taxes on the working class low and affordable but make sure corporations pay their fair share so we can fund public education, health care, and civic culture.
We need to preserve our quality of life and that starts with water. We have to be vigilant about our water supply and make sure that we are protecting our aquifers. We need to encourage safe yield with education, incentives and enforcement. Wastewater recharge, storm catchment and low water usage plans should become commonplace understandings in Arizona. This can be done through education. They can become commonplace practices through incentives and they can become necessary components of communnities by requiring new developments to adopt net zero water strategies to achieve safe yield. Coherent Water policy is the key to a bright future in Arizona.
My commencement speech at Antioch College was given by Congressman John Lewis. The strength of his personality and passion were on display that day but the truth is I did not fully comprehend or understand his greatness. It was only later in life that I fully took in the efforts he had made on the bridge in Selma as a teenager to demonstrate for the importance of civil rights, for voting rights and for human rights. His dignity in the face of suffering, and his willingness to participate in non-violent struggle and work peaceably towards reform through participation in our civic structures as a congressman are a light to forming a more perfect union in our country. And this ultimately is where I take my inspiration from the 'good trouble' of John Lewis. His patience to participate in and transform the political system that was unjustly discriminating and incriminating him stands as a beacon to the value and service of political office. The acts of his youth under Martin Luther King's leadership could be seen as idealistic, practical, and radical. They led to a career dedicated to transforming the political system we live in and making it more just and equitable. This is admirable and should inspire all of us to appreciate the value of political office in creating a better society.
Lincoln from Steven Spielberg and Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln from Doris Kearns Goodwin. I truly believe that Lincoln's approach to his cabinet which is outlined in the book and portrayed in the movies shows what I believe is essential inn successful politics - Dialogue. Lincoln let his cabinet members have authentic agency and created dialogue between them. He knew that the smartest person in the room was everyone together. It was audacious and like good art it is still talked about today.

For further insight into my political philosophy my Master's thesis "Election as Ceremony: Politics and the Art of Transformational Dialogue elaborates on the seven A's that make a successful performing arts residency. Agency, Authenticity, Accuracy, Audacity, Artistry, Audience, Accessibility.

The Seven A's come from the Network of Ensemble Theater's work at defining the conditions that create a high-impact community residency. These were developed by Jerry Strobnicky over a three year period of reviewing performing art community residencies around the USA.

I take these seven principles and apply them to politics because I believe politics at its best activates our capacity to engage community and direct its resources for the benefit of everyone.

Agency is allowing people to determine their own direction.
Authenticity is being true to one self and one's context.
Accuracy is using facts and truth.
Audacity is the willingness to speak truth boldly so that it is heard.
Artistry is sharing your message in a way that catches attention successfully.
Audience is knowing who you are talking to or representing.

Accessibility is making sure people can get the message or get to the resources.
A strong leader needs a balance of Integrity and Curiosity and have the ability to Listening and create Dialogue.

Integrity is often seen as an ethical characteristic but I view it as a capacity to take in new information and objectively reflect about one self and one's own views, where one stands and where one has stood. Integrity allows you to integrate new perspectives and experiences while remembering and being accountable for your own actions.

Curiosity is a critical characteristic for growth as it opens the channel for inquiring about the world. It creates the conditions for honest exchanges and aids in overcoming misunderstandings and building trust. If you are curious about someone or something it enables you to learn more.

Listening is an action that requires the temporary suspension of one's own point of view. It opens the pathway to taking in a different viewpoint and understanding and empathizing with someone else, even if there is not agreement. True listening brings a closer understanding to the differences between perspectives and is essential to effective negotiation.

Creating Dialogue is about asking the questions that get people to open up and share their perspective. It is the center piece of action between Integrity, Curiosity, and Listening. When a leader creates dialogue they create a situation for multiple people to listen to one another and develop a common vision.

An effective elected official needs to understand the necessities and stories of the community they represent. They need to be able to synthesize the best course of action from their constituents. They need to have the Curiosity to care, the ability to Listen skillfully, and the Integrity to integrate different perspectives into a common course of action through creating Civic Dialogue.
The ability to ask questions and create dialogue. I am a theater director who practices ensemble theater making. I work with finding the story within a community and bringing it to full expression. The first political campaign I worked on was Dr. David Brill's congressional campaign in 2018. During the course of that campaign I realized that my accumulated life skills in leading a performing arts group and creating collaborative expression paralleled the activities of political campaigns. I wrote a thesis for my Master's degree in Humanities at Prescott College titled "Election as Ceremony: Politics and the Art of Transformational Dialogue" It details the ways that ensemble theater practice can inform and improve political campaigns. Ultimately, I believe that an office holder should listen to the voices within the community they represent and distill a course of action that benefits that community. I believe this is best accomplished through deep practices of listening and asking questions.
The primary annual job of a State Representative in Arizona is prepare and negotiate a budget that is approved by the State House and State Senate and signed by the Governor. Through this task a State Representative takes on the responsibility of guarding our collective resources and directing their use. The funding of state government agencies and public education is the responsibility of the state legislature. A state legislator provide access to resources for the citizen of Arizona through the allocation of our tax dollars. Conversely a state legislator is responsible for how much and what kind of taxation the citizens of Arizona incur. The balance is critical. A legislator should not spend money we don't have and when we have money it should be invested for the benefit of everyone.

We are not getting our money's worth from the current legislature. Instead of Mis Appropriations for City Rodeos let's fund fire departments to keep our property insurance rates affordable. Let's rein in ESA Voucher giveaways that threaten to bankrupt our state. Let's make sure the agencies that are tasked to stop toxic mining interests have enough resources to protect our lands.

State legislators are also the guarantors of our rights. Through legislation and legislators our constitutional rights, voting rights, marriage rights, religious rights, water rights, mineral rights, and property rights are protected.

For example legislators write and create the laws that can allow or not allow municipalities to have local control over short term rentals (currently municipalities do not have this right - that is a problem)

They could write laws that allow municipalities to approve or deny mining claims adjacent to municipalities.

State Legislators determine the access to our resources and the direction of our budget. Our budgets reflect our priorities. Are you priorities reflected by the current legislature?
As a legislator I would like to leave a legacy of bringing civic dialogue back to the Arizona legislature. I would like to contribute to the development of a functional water policy that protects our aquifers through rural management areas by recognizing the hydrological connection between ground and surface water . I would like to contribute to a mining policy that ensures mining companies adequately bond before starting projects and compensate for the use of groundwater. I'd like to shape an education funding formula that is no longer last nationally as measured by percentage of our state's GDP. But mostly I'd like to reshape Arizona's cultural funding policy so that it legitimately rewards artists for their works.
Watergate - I was 8 years old and my grandmother walked me inside to watch the television as Nixon left office. I didn't realize at the time that I was watching a crisis in the American experiment at the time.

The next historical political event that shaped my consciousness was the Iranian hostage crisis. I had to ask myself what were the historical forces at play that created such enmity towards the country I was from.

Without a doubt the most personally impactful historical event of my life was the end of the Berlin Wall and the revolt of eastern Europe against Russia's communist dictatorship. As part of the detente between Gorbachev and Reagan at Rejkavik in 1986 I had been able to study German in East Germany at Dresden. I got to witness first hand the dysfunction of dictatorship and see its impact on people. I also got to see and understand the aftermath of fascism on the psyche of a nation when in my year of studying abroad in Tubingen, Germany. This led to me living in the former neighborhoods East Berlin, Germany after the fall of the wall from 1990 to 1997. These life experiences shaped my political consciousness as within a relatively short period of time I got to live within a failing communist dictatorship, a mild anarchy without a state, and reconstructive capitalism.
Washing dishes at Yellowstone Park. I only had it for three days. The working conditions were awful. I stated that it was not worth the pay and I was going to leave. I was told I couldn't leave. I responded, it's a free country. They offered me a job and better pay as a night porter at the hotel and I stayed for the season. Moral of Story - Know Your Worth and Negotiate on your terms.
Alexandria Quartet from Lawrence Durrell. It tells the same story from four different points of view and provides insight to the intrigues of the Levant in the early 20th Century.
I am pretty happy being myself and don't think often of who I would want to be. When I was young I drew strength from imagining myself as Paul Atreides (Muad'Dib) from Dune and Legolas from Lord of the Rings.
There are always songs in my head. Today it was Johnny Appleseed from Joe Strummer, True North from Commoners Choir, 24 Hours from Chloe Slater and Muhlenberg County from John Prine.
I have had to manage back pain through an extruded disc. I could not walk for two months and had to use a mix of pilates, egoscue method, yoga, rolfing, and chiropractics to recover my agility. It is an ongoing issue to monitor and address. It will be a lifelong endeavor to manage and minimize pain, and nourish and maximize joy in my body.
In an ideal setting the Governor would hold regular meetings with the state legislators and the legislators would share information about the needs of their district. There would be discussion and consensus oriented processes to achieve agreed upon goals.

Currently we have performative politics with the state legislature crafting bills that the governor won't sign because the people who elected the governor don't want extremist bills like banning voting centers or early voting to be approved. It is a waste of human and financial resource to craft bills that are simply 'performative' for pleasing your base.

If there was a willingness on the part of the legislature to listen to the governor and respect the needs of the voters who elected the governor the legislature's time would be more productive serving the needs of Arizonans.

Legislators should ultimately be a bridge between the towns and cities of the district and the governor's office. As the State Representative for District 1 I would take time to meet with municipal leaders, school districts, and county official to convey the needs of the district to the governor and the rest of the legislative chamber.
WATER - without a doubt Arizona's future depends on it developing a coherent water policy that empowers rural management areas with the capacity to measure groundwater withdrawal.

REVENUE - Arizona has an imbalanced tax policy whereby it takes 50% + 1 to cut taxes and 66% plus one to increase taxes. This does not allow flexibility for redressing situations. Because of a recent flat tax cities and towns are receiving less money from the general fund and having to cut services. If the capacity of our state to create revenues is not addressed we are in danger of losing a competitive economic edge through flexibility in response.

EDUCATION - We do not put forth proper effort in funding our public schools. We have the lowest percentage of our state GDP put towards education compared to all the states in the country. Without a good faith effort to invest in our public schools the quality of our public education will deteriorate and the ability to retain teachers will diminish. We need to stop allowing a free for all voucher giveaway that comes at the cost of public education being effectively funded. By investing in teachers and hiring more teachers we can reduce student-teacher ratios and attrition rates. We need to make Arizona a place where high quality teachers want to be, not run away from.
Leadership is helped by experience but I believe more important than experience is vision and the capacity to listen. State legislators need to be able to listen and receive broad public input. They need to be able to communicate with their colleagues and negotiate solutions. Those quality can be enhanced through previous experience in government or politics, but they are not qualities exclusive to politics.
Absolutely. If you expect to be an effective legislator and get a bill through committee, through votes in two chambers and signed by the governor you need to have effective relationships with other legislators. If you aren't building relationships with other legislators how are you going to understand what is happening in other legislator's districts? It seems essential to build relationships with one's colleagues if you expect to accomplish goals.
Tom Ohalleran represented this district as a Republican two decades ago and helped to craft legislation by bringing people together to communicate to find agreements. I would like to see this process take place again.
I just heard from the Mayor of one of our cities that a school teacher in their city is sleeping in their car. I find this to be a tragedy. Teachers should be receiving adequate enough payment to be able to live a dignified lifestyle and buy a house.
When is a dad joke a dad joke. When its apparent.
We need to have a separation of powers and an effective balance of power between the judicial, the legislative and the executive branch of governments. There may be situational moments when it is important to grant the use of emergency powers but it should be reserved for extreme emergencies.
I would introduce a bill similar to Senate Bill 1551 in the house so that we could create rural management areas to protect our aquifers.
Natural Resources, Energy and Water. I want to be part of the discussion that empowers rural managment areas to effectively protect our aquifers through education, incentives, and enforcement. Arizona can't afford to wait until there is a crisis. We need to set up stakeholder structures that can measure groundwater and establish the connection between ground and surface water.

You can't manage what you don't measure

Transportation and Infrastructure. In order to meet the challenges of the future we have to be vigilant about energy efficiency and the changing paradigms of transportation. Arizona has unique opportunities through its environment to be a leader in transportation innovation.

Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Local Resources

There are so many examples of the state legislature having usurped local control from municipalities. We need to allow cities and towns to establish their own protocols rather than having the state legislature forbid local measures from being enacted. Short Term Rentals, Puppy Mills, and Plastic Straws have had local solutions blocked by the state legislature. I want to serve on this committee to restore local control.
The public needs to know how public money is spent. This is basic. I like it when state agencies share with the public how they are spending their money and who is working for them and what projects they are focused on.

If we don't have financial transparency and government accountability the social contract that holds democratic republics together starts to unravel. From open meeting law to candidates sharing their tax records there are traditions in our political history that urge transparency and accountability. The Boston Tea Party was a response to Divine King from a distant continent not disclosing where the tax revenues of the colonies went.

Of course the public needs to participate and inform themselves of what their state agencies are doing. If there is not a demand and vigilance for transparency and accountability the worst of human instincts can emerge and initiate grift and corruption.

Arizonans want accountability. The citizens of our state passed Stop Dark Money so we could see who was putting money into political ads. People want disclosure on how the tax dollars spent on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts are being used. It is disconcerting to see funds used for ski trips, martial art classes,
I would support the ability of ballot initiatives to collect petition signatures online, like candidates currently can do. I think it would streamline the citizen initiative process and make it easier for people to express their support of ballot initiatives.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Jay Ruby campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Arizona House of Representatives District 1Lost general$59,363 $60,575
Grand total$59,363 $60,575
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 16, 2024


Current members of the Arizona House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Steve Montenegro
Majority Leader:Michael Carbone
Minority Leader:Oscar De Los Santos
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
Lupe Diaz (R)
District 20
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
Lisa Fink (R)
District 28
District 29
District 30
Republican Party (33)
Democratic Party (27)