Alex C. Ruffing was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 machinist

Machinist

A machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...

 and Socialist from Milwaukee who served four terms (1919–1926) as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Wisconsin State Assembly

The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin....

 and one shortened term in Wisconsin State Senate

Wisconsin State Senate

The Wisconsin Senate, the powers of which are modeled after those of the U.S. Senate, is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature, smaller than the Wisconsin State Assembly...

 representing Milwaukee County-based districts

Background

Ruffing was born in Milwaukee on November 2nd, 1892. He was educated in the public and parochial schools and learned the machinist trade at the Allis Chalmers plant.

Legislative career

He had never entered electoral politics before a 1916 run for the Assembly from the 7th Milwaukee County district (7th and 10th wards of the City of Milwaukee), which he lost to Bernhard Gettleman by 85 votes) In 1918 Ruffing was elected to the same Assembly seat at the age of 26 years and three days, receiving 2,959 votes to 1,410 for Tony Rausch (Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

) (Gettleman had become chief deputy sheriff of Milwaukee County). He became the youngest member of the fifty-fourth session of the legislature, and was assigned to the standing committee

Standing Committee

In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...

 on public welfare. He continued to work at the factory between sessions at first, but from 1923 to 1928 worked as an annexation

Annexation

Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...

 solicitor for the City of Milwaukee.

He was re-elected in 1920 and 1922 without opposition, switching to the Committees on the Judiciary

Judiciary

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...

 and then Finance

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

, and in 1924 won re-election by 2367 votes to 1622 for Henry A. Zaidina.

In November 1926, Ruffing was elected to the State Senate to fill out the unexpired term of fellow Socialist Joseph Padway (who had resigned to serve as judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 of the Milwaukee civil court), with 4297 votes for Ruffing to 3294 for Republican Otto Tetzloff. He was assigned to the joint committee

Joint committee

A Joint Committee is a term in politics that is used to refer to a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature. In other contexts, it refers to a committee with members from more than one organization.-Republic of Ireland:...

 on Finance, on which he'd served two terms while in the Assembly. He was appointed as a Milwaukee alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 by Mayor Dan Hoan in 1928, and was succeeded in the Senate by fellow Socialist Thomas Duncan.

Post-legislature

Ruffing continuted to serve as an alderman until defeated for re-election on April 4, 1944 by Republican Assemblyman Martin E. Schreiber

Martin E. Schreiber

Martin E. Schreiber was a carpenter, real estate agent and Republican politician from Milwaukee who served one term as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and 32 years as an alderman of the City of Milwaukee . He was the father of Martin J...

. He was now a vice-chairman of the Wisconsin Socialist Party central committee

Central Committee

Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...

, and became the Socialist candidate for state senate against incumbent (and former Socialist) George Hampel

George Hampel (legislator)

George Hampel was an American politician, accountant and bookseller from Milwaukee who served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Socialist and two terms in the Wisconsin State Senate as a Progressive...

, who ran without any party affiliation; with both of them losing in November to Democrat Edward W. Reuther

Edward W. Reuther

-Biography:Reuther was born on March 30, 1915 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He would go on to be employed by the Milwaukee Braves. In 1953, he married Madeline Glodowski. They would have a daughter. Reuther passed away on April 30, 2002.-Political career:...

. In 1946, he ran for his old seat in the Assembly, coming in third to Republican Clyde W. Follansbee and Democrat John Schaller. In 1949, he returned to his old employment as an annexation solicitor under new Socialist mayor Frank P. Zeidler

Frank P. Zeidler

Frank Paul Zeidler was an American Socialist politician and Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving three terms from April 20, 1948 to April 18, 1960. He was the most recent Socialist mayor of any major American city, although U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders was the mayor of Burlington, the largest...

; and in June 1950 he was elected to succeed Zeidler as state chairman of the Socialist Party.