Roy Ashburn
Encyclopedia
Roy Arthur Ashburn is an American politician from Kern County, California
. A Republican
, he served as a California State Senator
from 2002 to 2010 representing the 18th district
. He previously served three terms in the California State Assembly
, representing the 32nd district
and 12 years on the Kern County Board of Supervisors
. He now serves on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board after having been appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
.
Although he had maintained a firm voting record against gay rights legislation, Ashburn acknowledged that he is gay
in March 2010. After declaring that he was homosexual
, he increasingly spoke out on gay rights.
, Ashburn received a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration
from California State University, Bakersfield
in 1983 and attended College of the Sequoias
in Visalia
. His religion is Roman Catholic, listed in his biography printed by California State University, at Bakersfield (Cal State / CSU-Bakersfield). Ashburn is the divorced father of four daughters, Shelley, Shannon, Stacy and Suzana. He also has two grandchildren.
from 1979 to 1983, as a Kern County Supervisor from 1984 to 1996, as a California State Assembly
man from 1996 to 2002, and as a California State Senator from 2002 to 2010. He attended the College of the Sequoias
and in 1983 received his Bachelor of Arts
degree in public administration
from California State University, Bakersfield
. The same year he graduated from college, Ashburn served as president of the Bakersfield Republican Assembly. In 1988, Ashburn chaired the Kern County chapter of the George H. W. Bush
presidential campaign
.
Two years into his first term in the State Senate, Ashburn was the Republican candidate in 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, former State Senator Jim Costa
. The 20th is a strongly 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!" He also compared Costa to former Governor Gray Davis
, calling them the "two taxing twins." In the end, Costa won by 54% to 46%. Ashburn only kept the margin within single digits by winning heavily Republican Kings County
. He did, however, run ahead of the typical Republican showing in the district.
According to Project Vote Smart
, Ashburn voted against every gay rights measure in the State Senate since taking office, all of which subsequently passed. However, he marked a political shift after his DUI arrest by carrying an amendment of a section of the 1950 Welfare and Institutions Code which would eliminate a requirement of the Department of Mental Health
to carry out research on "sexual deviants" (language which was expressly used against homosexuals when the WIC was passed in 1950); the carriage of the bill by Ashburn to unanimous passing by the Senate is the first pro-gay act vetted by Ashburn in his career.
Ashburn came out during a radio interview in California and stated that he did not plan to run for any public office again.
Ashburn was vice chair of the Legislative Audit and Public Employment and Retirement Committees in the Senate and was a member of the committees of Arts, Budget and Fiscal Review, Legislative Audit, Revenue and Taxation, Rules, and Transportation and Housing, and the subcommittees on California Ports and Goods Movement and Health and Human Services.
In 2010, Ashburn backed Proposition 13, which sought to prevent seismic retrofitting from triggering property tax reassessments.
by the California Highway Patrol shortly before 2 a.m., with sources saying he was leaving a Sacramento gay nightclub
, Faces, in the Lavender Hill neighborhood, with an unidentified male passenger in a state-owned Chevy Tahoe. Ashburn's blood alcohol content
was measured at 0.14%. The arrest "launched nationwide speculation that the veteran lawmaker is gay and therefore a hypocrite for voting against gay-rights bills." In response to those accusations, during an interview on KERN
radio, Ashburn stated that he is gay and that he believes "that my responsibility is to my constituents." When asked during the interview whether he personally agreed with votes he made on gay rights issues, Ashburn didn't answer the question.
On April 14, 2010, Ashburn pleaded no contest
to the charge of driving under the influence
in Sacramento County
Superior Court. He received a sentence of three years of informal probation
and 48 hours in the county jail, though was given credit for one day for the night of his arrest and will serve the remaining day on a work project. Fines and other fees cost Ashburn $1,900 to $2,000.
, servicing Ashburn's 18th district broadcast Roy Ashburn's weekly Saturday radio show from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Pacific
until February 27, 2010, when he announced that he was hosting his final show. The fact that KERN deleted his DJ page and his show's description page from their radio station's website shortly after his drunk-driving incident caused speculation that he was fired for this incident or his sexuality. Ashburn stated that he was considering running for Congress and did not want KERN to be in conflict with federal equal time requirements
.
Kern County, California
Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...
. A Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, he served as a California State Senator
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
from 2002 to 2010 representing the 18th district
California's 18th State Senate district
California's 18th State Senate District is one of 40 Senate districts. It is currently represented by Republican Jean Fuller of Bakersfield.-District profile:Kern County*Bakersfield*California City*Maricopa*Ridgecrest*Taft*Tehachapi...
. He previously served three terms in the California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
, representing the 32nd district
California's 32nd State Assembly district
California's 32nd State Assembly District is one of 80 districts in the California State Assembly. It is currently represented by Republican Shannon Grove of Bakersfield.-District profile:Kern - 63.71%*Bakersfield - 85.26%...
and 12 years on the Kern County Board of Supervisors
Kern County Board of Supervisors
The Kern County Board of Supervisors is the legislative and executive body that controls Kern County, California.-Modern:In October 2011 the members were:* 1st District, Jon McQuiston.* 2nd District, Zack Scrivner.* 3rd District, Mike Maggard....
. He now serves on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board after having been appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
.
Although he had maintained a firm voting record against gay rights legislation, Ashburn acknowledged that he is gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
in March 2010. After declaring that he was homosexual
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
, he increasingly spoke out on gay rights.
Personal
Born in Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, Ashburn received a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
from California State University, Bakersfield
California State University, Bakersfield
California State University, Bakersfield is a public university located in Bakersfield, California, United States which was founded in 1965. CSUB opened in 1970 on a campus, becoming the 19th school in the California State University system...
in 1983 and attended College of the Sequoias
College of the Sequoias
College of the Sequoias is a public two-year community college located in Visalia in Tulare County, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The current enrollment of COS is 13,000 students, and the college offers a variety of transfer, vocational, and community-based classes, including the fire/police...
in Visalia
Visalia, California
Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...
. His religion is Roman Catholic, listed in his biography printed by California State University, at Bakersfield (Cal State / CSU-Bakersfield). Ashburn is the divorced father of four daughters, Shelley, Shannon, Stacy and Suzana. He also has two grandchildren.
Political career
Ashburn worked for Kern County Supervisor LeRoy Jackson from 1972 to 1977, for Congressman Bill ThomasBill Thomas
William Marshall Thomas , commonly known as Bill Thomas, is an American politician, and a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1979–2007, finishing his tenure representing California's 22nd congressional district and as the Chairman of the House Ways and Means...
from 1979 to 1983, as a Kern County Supervisor from 1984 to 1996, as a California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
man from 1996 to 2002, and as a California State Senator from 2002 to 2010. He attended the College of the Sequoias
College of the Sequoias
College of the Sequoias is a public two-year community college located in Visalia in Tulare County, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The current enrollment of COS is 13,000 students, and the college offers a variety of transfer, vocational, and community-based classes, including the fire/police...
and in 1983 received his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
from California State University, Bakersfield
California State University, Bakersfield
California State University, Bakersfield is a public university located in Bakersfield, California, United States which was founded in 1965. CSUB opened in 1970 on a campus, becoming the 19th school in the California State University system...
. The same year he graduated from college, Ashburn served as president of the Bakersfield Republican Assembly. In 1988, Ashburn chaired the Kern County chapter of the George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
.
Two years into his first term in the State Senate, Ashburn was the Republican candidate in 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
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee, former State Senator Jim Costa
Jim Costa
James Manuel "Jim" Costa is the U.S. Representative for , serving since his initial election in 2004. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district takes in large and predominantly Latino portions of Fresno and Bakersfield in the Central Valley.-Early life and education:Born in Fresno,...
. The 20th is a strongly Democratic, Latino-majority district, and the district's previous incumbent, Democrat Cal Dooley
Cal Dooley
Calvin M. "Cal" Dooley , American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2005, representing the 17th and 20th districts of California....
, 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!" He also compared Costa to former Governor Gray Davis
Gray Davis
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
, calling them the "two taxing twins." In the end, Costa won by 54% to 46%. Ashburn only kept the margin within single digits by winning heavily Republican Kings County
Kings County, California
Kings County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is located in a rich agricultural region. Kings County is also home to NAS Lemoore, which is the U.S. Navy's newest and largest master jet air station. The county seat is Hanford...
. He did, however, run ahead of the typical Republican showing in the district.
Political achievements/positions
Ashburn's work in the California Legislature has included:- Author of "Valley Fever Vaccine Legislation," which provides funding towards vaccine research on the disease.
- One of four named authors of "Welfare-to-Work Act of 1997," which reformed California's welfare system.
According to Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
, Ashburn voted against every gay rights measure in the State Senate since taking office, all of which subsequently passed. However, he marked a political shift after his DUI arrest by carrying an amendment of a section of the 1950 Welfare and Institutions Code which would eliminate a requirement of the Department of Mental Health
Department of Mental Health
Department of Mental Health may refer to*Alabama Department of Mental Health*Massachusetts Department of Mental Health*Mississippi Department of Mental Health*Guam Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse...
to carry out research on "sexual deviants" (language which was expressly used against homosexuals when the WIC was passed in 1950); the carriage of the bill by Ashburn to unanimous passing by the Senate is the first pro-gay act vetted by Ashburn in his career.
Ashburn came out during a radio interview in California and stated that he did not plan to run for any public office again.
Ashburn was vice chair of the Legislative Audit and Public Employment and Retirement Committees in the Senate and was a member of the committees of Arts, Budget and Fiscal Review, Legislative Audit, Revenue and Taxation, Rules, and Transportation and Housing, and the subcommittees on California Ports and Goods Movement and Health and Human Services.
In 2010, Ashburn backed Proposition 13, which sought to prevent seismic retrofitting from triggering property tax reassessments.
Arrest, conviction and consequences
On March 3, 2010, Ashburn was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving while operating a State of California owned vehicle. The Senator was pulled over in SacramentoSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
by the California Highway Patrol shortly before 2 a.m., with sources saying he was leaving a Sacramento gay nightclub
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
, Faces, in the Lavender Hill neighborhood, with an unidentified male passenger in a state-owned Chevy Tahoe. Ashburn's blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content , also called blood alcohol concentration, blood ethanol concentration, or blood alcohol level is most commonly used as a metric of alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes....
was measured at 0.14%. The arrest "launched nationwide speculation that the veteran lawmaker is gay and therefore a hypocrite for voting against gay-rights bills." In response to those accusations, during an interview on KERN
KERN
KERI is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. Licensed to Bakersfield, California, USA. The station is currently owned by American General Media.-History:...
radio, Ashburn stated that he is gay and that he believes "that my responsibility is to my constituents." When asked during the interview whether he personally agreed with votes he made on gay rights issues, Ashburn didn't answer the question.
On April 14, 2010, Ashburn pleaded no contest
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
to the charge of driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
in Sacramento County
Sacramento County, California
Sacramento County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Sacramento, which is also the state capital. As of 2010 the county had a population of 1,418,788....
Superior Court. He received a sentence of three years of informal probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
and 48 hours in the county jail, though was given credit for one day for the night of his arrest and will serve the remaining day on a work project. Fines and other fees cost Ashburn $1,900 to $2,000.
Radio show
A local radio station, AM1180 KERNKERN
KERI is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. Licensed to Bakersfield, California, USA. The station is currently owned by American General Media.-History:...
, servicing Ashburn's 18th district broadcast Roy Ashburn's weekly Saturday radio show from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Pacific
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
until February 27, 2010, when he announced that he was hosting his final show. The fact that KERN deleted his DJ page and his show's description page from their radio station's website shortly after his drunk-driving incident caused speculation that he was fired for this incident or his sexuality. Ashburn stated that he was considering running for Congress and did not want KERN to be in conflict with federal equal time requirements
Equal-time rule
The equal-time rule specifies that U.S. radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it...
.