Patricia Rucker

West Virginia

Patricia Puertas Rucker is a West Virginia State Senator serving the 16th District. She is a former teacher who is raising and homeschooling her five children with her husband of 28 years.

Patricia is a first-generation American citizen, born in Caracas, Venezuela, coming to the U.S., Montgomery County, Maryland, in 1981 when her father, Jose Puertas, an international correspondent, was assigned by Agence France Presse to the Washington, D.C., desk, eventually becoming its Latin American Editor.

She has been a Harpers Ferry resident since 2001, and her hobbies include gardening, beekeeping, and raising chickens and ducks on her small hobby farm.

Before starting a family, Patricia taught social studies in the Montgomery County Public School System. On November 8, 2016, she was elected to the West Virginia State Senate in the 16th District. She is currently beginning her third term.

She graduated from Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools, Magruder High School (serving one year as the mascot!). She earned a degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., with a B.A. in History and minor in Latin American studies.