Followers will not equip gear that gives them lower stats (damage reduction in this case) than what they are wearing. You would have to find armor that has a repair buff and better DPS. Search the Fallout Vault wiki for what you would need.
His default clothing already has the repair buff, and a DT of 10, so it's pretty good actually.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Raul%27s_Petro-Chico_jumpsuit
However, if you did Old School Ghoul, then one of his armors has no Repair Buff, so that could be why he is at 95% now
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Raul_armor
His other armor he gets if you make the other choice does have the repair buff, but no real increase in stats, so not sure why it says it's armored......