Angelique Ashby

Angelique Ashby
Member of the California Senate
from the 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2022
Preceded byRichard Pan
Member of the Sacramento City Council for District 1
In office
November 23, 2010 – December 5, 2022
Preceded byRay Tretheway
Succeeded byLisa Kaplan & Karina Talamantes
Personal details
BornAshland, Oregon, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of California, Davis (BA)
McGeorge School of Law (JD)

Angelique V. Ashby is an American politician and a member of the California State Senate since 2023. A Democrat, she represents the 8th district. Before joining the legislature, she was elected to the Sacramento City Council in 2010, where she served for 12 years.

Early life

Ashby graduated from Sacramento High School. Her father was formerly the head of California’s state foster care programs. Ashby became a single mom at 20, before receiving her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Davis and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. She founded a consulting firm with her late father, to create programs to assist parolees, foster children and incarcerated women.[1][2]

Political career

Ashby was elected to the Sacramento City Council in 2010, representing the first district.[3][4] She served as the vice mayor or mayor pro tem nine times during her 12 years on the council.[1][2] She was the only female councilmember for over six years and the first to give birth while in office. Ashby focused on homelessness, school funding, literacy, economic development, infrastructure and climate change.[5]

2022 state elections

In the 2022 state elections, Ashby contested the 8th district in the California State Senate. The race between her and the former Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones was one of the most expensive in state history, with $14.5 million spent on the race according to Cal Matters.[6][7] Both candidates ran as Democrats.[6] She was endorsed by the previous state senator for the area, Richard Pan, Governor Gavin Newsom, former governor Jerry Brown and the organization EMILY's List.[1][5][7][8]

During the race, Jones sued the California Secretary of State to remove Ashby's ballot designation as a "women's advocate", claiming there is no such profession. She amended her designation to "Sacramento City Councilwoman".[1][9] Ashby came in second to Jones in the primary election on June 7, 2022.[10][11] She won the general election on November 8, 2022,[1][12] Jones conceded on November 29 after seeing Ashby’s election night lead grow with each ballot count update. Ashby became the first woman elected to the State Senate representing the majority of Sacramento County in over 20 years, and only the second woman ever to do so.[1]

Personal life

Ashby was born in Ashland, Oregon. Her family moved to the Sacramento region when she was in elementary school. She graduated from Sacramento High School and became a young single parent at 20 years old. She lived in low income housing and utilized various social service programs, such as subsidized childcare and food assistance.

She worked full time while raising her son and attending the University of California at Davis to obtain her undergraduate degree and also attended the University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law where she obtained her Juris Doctor degree.

Ashby married in 2002. Her husband is also from Oregon, obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and later earned a Masters Degree as well. He is an emergency room nurse in Sacramento.[2]

They have three children and live in the City of Sacramento.

Ashby served on the Sacramento City Council for 12 years. She also owned a consulting firm with her late father. They focused their business on addressing the needs of foster youth, parolees and incarcerated women with children.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Angelique Ashby vs Dave Jones | California's 8th District State Senate race, explained". abc10.com. October 16, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "On the issues: Angelique Ashby and Dave Jones, candidates for District 8's senate seat". The Sacramento Bee. May 1, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  3. ^ "Angelique Ashby, Stephanie Nguyen win election to represent Sacramento at California's Capitol". www.capradio.org. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  4. ^ "Dave Jones concedes to Angelique Ashby in State Sen. District 8 race - CBS Sacramento". www.cbsnews.com. November 29, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "EMILYs List Endorses Sacramento Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby for the California State Senate". EMILYs List. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Holden, Lindsey (November 8, 2022). "Angelique Ashby takes early lead over Dave Jones in hard-fought Sacramento Senate race". The Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Hull, John (November 29, 2022). "Ashby wins tough, local State Senate race". Elk Grove Citizen. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  8. ^ "Newsom endorses Angelique Ashby for State Senate District 8 race". Yahoo News. October 4, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  9. ^ Serrin, Greta (November 14, 2022). "State Senate District 8 race: Democrat Angelique Ashby takes early lead against Democrat Dave Jones". Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  10. ^ "California State Senate Districts 4, 6, & 8 2022 Primary Results". FOX40. June 8, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "Sacramento County - Election Night Results". results.saccounty.gov. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  12. ^ "Sacramento County - Election Night Results". results.saccounty.gov. Retrieved September 27, 2023.