Representative Rui Xu

Rui Xu, born in 1989 in Switzerland, is a state representative in the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 25th district. He is the first Chinese American person to ever serve in the Kansas Legislature and the only naturalized citizen and only Asian American currently serving.

Rui was born to Chinese graduate students pursuing their PhDs. He moved to the United States when he was two years old and became a naturalized US citizen at the age of 12. He spent his childhood in the town of Rolla, Missouri. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in economics, he got married and moved to Kansas City to pursue a career in sports analytics. He was a performance analyst with Sporting Kansas City for over 3 years, culminating in a MLS Championship in 2013.

The 2016 election motivated Rui to take an active role in a field that allows him to directly help those in need, and he became a marketing operations analyst at Children International, one of the area’s largest non-profits, which supports over 200,000 children around the world. He also volunteers his time on the Literacy KC marketing board, helping low-literacy adults in the area improve their reading skills.

Rui was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives for the first time in 2018, beating incumbent Melissa Rooker with 50.5% of the vote. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2020 and 2022, he ran unopposed and was re-elected. In his time in the legislature, Rui has served on Financial Institutions and Pensions, Education, Higher Education Budget, and the Agriculture committee. He has been proud to take a lead on environmental issues in the House, introducing bills on addressing climate change, incentivizing carbon farming, and protecting pollinators at solar sites.