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When Angelique Ashby ran for State Senate, facing off against former Assemblyman and insurance commissioner for the state, Dave Jones, she’d never held office in the state legislature.
But that’s no matter for Ashby, who’s in her late 40s and has made a political career of swinging big and continuing to do so even when she’s fallen short. This included playing catchup after Jones won the most voters of any candidate in the June 2022 primary election, with Ashby ultimately winning the general election 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent.
“For over a decade, I have fought hard for Sacramento families, and I decided the way for me to continue doing the most good for as many people as possible was to take that fight to the state Capitol,” Ashby said in a statement according to the Sacramento Bee following her victory.
Ashby has wasted no time in getting to work in the her new position, securing appointments on six committees and becoming assistant majority whip.
Background
Ashby’s biography on her State Senate website tells her story, of how she became a single mother at 20, worked her way through college, and later earned a jurisdoctorate from University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law.
She began to be written about in the Sacramento Bee in the summer of 2008 as a 33-year-old north Natomas resident taking action after a series of home invasions. “Being poor doesn’t mean you’re a criminal, but we all know there are many correlations between poverty and criminal behavior,” Ashby told the Bee in July 2008. “You can’t have it overwhelm the community, which is what it’s starting to do in Natomas.”
Two years later, Ashby ran a successful campaign to unseat the incumbent representative for her Sacramento City Council district, Ray Tretheway. During her campaign, she secured a unanimous endorsement from the Sacramento Police Officers Association.
“I want to make sure I’m ready on Day One,” Ashby told the Bee in November 2010, following her victory. “I’m not nervous. I know I’ll do my best. I know I’ll work very hard. There’s the potential that my best is not good enough.”
Ashby ultimately served 12 years on council, running for mayor in 2016 against former California Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, with Ashby ultimately losing that race by 30 points.
Ashby’s official bio notes that she is married to Zac, an emergency room nurse, and has three children.
Committees
Ashby’s committee assignments have not been posted on her State Senate website as of this writing. They were located on a page of the site for Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins and are as follows:
Business, Professions and Economic Development
Energy, Utilities and Communications
Legislative Ethics (chair)
Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management (vice chair)
Joint Committee on Fairs Allocation and Classification
Select Legislation
SB 307: A bill introduced in early 2023 by Ashby and fellow Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from North Coast, “would extend awards under the (Middle Class Scholarship Program) to community college students who are current or former foster youth pursuing transfer to” a variety of higher educational institutions or programs, according to the bill’s text.
District Boundaries and Office Locations
The California State Senate’s 8th District covers the entire city of Sacramento and some other areas of Sacramento County, including the city of Elk Grove. She keeps the following offices:
