Roy Ashburn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roy Arthur Ashburn (born March 21, 1954) is a Republican politician, who is a California State Senator representing the 18th District, which includes portions of Kern, Tulare, and San Bernardino Counties, as well as all of Inyo County. First elected to the Senate in 2002, he is currently in his second four-year term.
Born in Long Beach, California, Ashburn received a bachelor's degree in Public Administration from California State University, Bakersfield in 1983 and attended College of the Sequoias in Visalia. Ashburn has never worked in the private sector, having spent his entire adult life in government, first working for Kern County Supervisor LeRoy Jackson for 1972-1977 (then attended College of the Sequoias full-time from 1977-1979), for Congressman Bill Thomas from 1979-1983, as a Kern County Supervisor from 1984-1996, as a California State Assemblyman from 1996-2002, and as a California State Senator since 2002.[1]
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, named Ashburn Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Defense and Aerospace Industry after Ashburn voted for massive tax increases during 2008-2009 California budget crisis despite strong demands from his constiuents that he not do so. Steinberg also made Ashburn the Vice Chair of the Public Employees and Retirement Committee and a member of the Environmental Quality Committee, Transportation & Housing Committee, and Revenue & Taxation Committee.
Ashburn's work in the California Legislature has included:
-
- Author of "Valley Fever Vaccine Legislation," provides funding to eradicate the deadly disease.[citation needed]
- Author of "Welfare-to-Work Act of 1997," which reformed California's welfare system[citation needed]
- Author of "ERAF Reform," a proposed measure that would force the state to return more local property tax dollars to cities and counties[citation needed]
Only two years into his term in the State Senate, Ashburn was the Republican candidate in California's 20th congressional district in 2004. He was the strongest Republican to run in the 20th in more than a decade. He was a decided underdog against the Democratic nominee, fellow Senator Jim Costa. The 20th is a solidly Democratic, Latino-majority district, and the district's previous incumbent, Democrat Cal Dooley, had held the seat without serious difficulty for 14 years. However, the Republicans poured more money into the race than was expected for such a heavily Democratic district. Ashburn claimed Costa would vote to raise taxes; in a play on Costa's name, he aired ads saying "Costa's gonna cost ya!" In the end, Costa won by 54% to 46%, though Ashburn ran ahead of the typical Republican showing in the district. Ironically, Ashburn may have ruined his political future by voting for massive tax increases to end the 2008-2009 California budget crisis despite strong demands on his radio show that he not do so.
Ashburn is the divorced father of four daughters, Shelley, Shannon, Stacy and Suzana.[2]
When asked by The Bakersfield Californian about his interest in being included in Wikipedia, Ashburn replied:
- "I've gotten I don't know how many questionnaires for Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Politics and so on. I throw those in the trash. I'm just not interested in that."[3]
On Saturdays from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Pacific, Ashburn hosts a political talk show on KERN 1410 AM.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ "JoinCalifornia - Roy Ashburn". JoinCalifornia Election Archive. http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/5347.
- ^ "Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-California) biography". UC for California. http://uc4ca.www.ucforcalifornia.org/bio/id/1938.
- ^ Pollard, Vic (2006-02-26). "WikiWorld". The Bakersfield Californian. pp. A1. http://www.bakersfield.com/. Retrieved 2006-03-28.
[edit] External links
| California Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Trice J. Harvey |
California State Assemblyman 32nd District 1996 – 2002 |
Succeeded by Kevin McCarthy |
| California Senate | ||
| Preceded by Jack O'Connell |
California State Senator 18th District 2002–present |
Incumbent |
 |
This article about a California politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
