At 24, Ken Ruetenik is the youngest candidate running for state representative in the 13th Norfolk District. So is he aiming a little high in his first run for public office?
“Yes, I am aiming rather high,” he told the Observer. “But a lot of this is to show peers my age that if I can go out there and run for something like this, then other people should feel confident as well.”
Ruetenik brings an interesting background to his quest. Born in the Philippines, he was adopted and brought to the U.S. by Jim Ruetenik and Georgina Arrieta-Ruetenik when he was about 11 months old. The family lived in Stoughton briefly before moving to Needham 22 years ago.
Ruetenik graduated from Needham High School in 2018, and studied finance and accounting at UMass-Dartmouth, earning his degree after just three semesters of in-person work and three semesters online because of the pandemic. After deferring for a year, he went to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland for graduate school.
Ruetenik called it a great experience, but said, “After about a semester there I realized now wasn’t the time. So I came back and have been working since February of ’23.”
Ruetenik recently left his job in accounts receivable at Analysis Group, an economic consultancy firm in Boston, to focus on his candidacy.
He credited his parents, both Town Meeting members, for his introduction to politics and public policy. “I grew up going to Progressive Mass. and Progressive Needham events,” he said. “Sort of osmosis, I would say.” But he said he wasn’t particularly active in politics until now.
On his website, Ruetenik cites two issues of particular interest: climate change and housing.
“The harsh reality is that if we are unable to work together to combat climate change then we might as well not work together on anything,” he writes. He calls for a more streamlined and predictable process for developers to stimulate building and relieve what he calls the state’s housing crisis.
“Obviously, I have opinions on things like bringing back up the corporate tax in Massachusetts,” he said. “I have pretty deep and strong feelings about gun reform, as well.”
But what really fires up Ruetenik is his desire to get more young people involved in the political process, regardless of whom they vote for.
He admitted, with a laugh, that he’s doing “very, very little” campaigning. What he is doing is reaching out primarily to younger people — many in one-to-one conversations — urging them to vote.
“They feel like, ‘How am I able to eat? Like, I can’t even think about paying rent, how am I supposed to be looking after my fellow Americans, when I can barely look after myself?’ I think that’s a really scary narrative to have,” he said.
Ruetenik said the reception he’s had among young people has been wonderful. “I think that most young people who are unhappy with the way things are going, regardless of their party affiliation, have been very receptive,” he said.
“If you’re upset, you need to do something about it. And the thing that you do is you vote. And the thing after that is you run for positions like Town Meeting.”
Ruetenik said he has spoken with potential voters at Democratic Town Committee meetings in Needham and Medfield and he’s made other contacts through his politically active mother. “Whenever she sends me a contact, I do my best to find time to meet with them,” he said. “Yeah, it’s very grassroots.”
Bobby Clark, who has known Ruetenik since they were in ninth grade together, said he wouldn’t have expected his friend to run for office, “but it doesn’t surprise me. He’s very motivated and determined.”
Clark, who is not related to the author of this profile, described Ruetenik as a man of many talents and interests. As teens, he said, they would make music or videos together, and sometimes they would go into Boston to take pictures. More recently they have taken up pickleball.
“He’s a good friend and a great guy overall,” said Clark.
Ruetenik sang and played guitar in bands in high school and college, participating in Needham’s Plugged In Band program.
“I enjoy listening to bands like the Eagles, Grateful Dead, The Band, as well as modern pop music and K-Pop,” said Ruetenik. He said he runs, plays tennis and swims at the Y downtown.
Ruetenik said he doesn’t think being young has been a handicap to his candidacy.
“I think that there are people who will dismiss me for my age,” he said. “But you know, if I sit down with them and I have a larger conversation with them to say, ‘I’m the generation that represents your grandchildren,’ then they see it a little more. They’re a little bit more understanding.”
“We’re in a really dangerous spot right now in American politics,” said Ruetenik, with many people of his generation feeling abandoned by the system we live in.
“That’s why I’m out here now,” Ruetenik said. “Win or lose, I plan to be a very active member of the community, and I think that’s incredibly important.”
Regardless of the primary outcome, Ruetenik described running for the Democratic nomination for state representative as a positive experience.
“I’ve learned so much about this place I’ve lived in for 22 years, which I thought I knew like the back of my hand,” he said. “I’m realizing, ‘Wow, my bubble’s small.’ And it’s given me confidence to stand for the person that I am.”
Editor’s note: Georgina Arrieta-Ruetenik contributes photos to the Observer.
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