Barbara Kay Roberts (née Hughey; born December 21, 1936) is an American politician from the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. A native of the state, she served as the 34th Governor of Oregon from 1991 to 1995. She was the first woman elected to serve as Oregon governor, and the only woman elected to that office until 2016. A

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, Roberts was also the first woman to serve as majority leader in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

. She also won two terms as

Oregon Secretary of State The secretary of state of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in the line of succession to the List of Governors of Oregon, governor. The duties of the offi ...

, and served in local and county government in

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. Roberts was married to Oregon state Sen. Frank L. Roberts from 1974 until his death in 1993. From February 2011 until January 2013, she served on the council of

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, the regional government in the

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Early life

Roberts was born Barbara Kay Hughey on December 21, 1936, in

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Oregon, Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton Co ...

, to Bob and Carmen Murray Hughey. Her father, a millworker, was a descendant of

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

pioneers. The Hugheys' second daughter Pat was born a few years later and then they moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1940 where her father worked as a

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. Following

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, the Hugheys returned to Oregon, settling in Gold Creek in Yamhill County in 1945, and then finally in Sheridan. In 1954, she married her high-school sweetheart Neal Sanders, graduating the following year from Sheridan High School. The couple moved to Texas, where they had two children, Mike and Mark, before returning to Oregon several years later, settling in

where she attended

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

from 1961 to 1964. With her older son, Mike, diagnosed in 1962 as "severely emotionally disturbed" (later identified as

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

), she became an advocate for special-needs children. In 1971, she successfully lobbied the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

to require public schools to guarantee educational rights to these children. In 1972, her marriage to Neal ended in divorce.

Political career

In 1973, she was elected to Parkrose School Board and, later, to the

Mount Hood Community College Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) is a public community college in Gresham, Oregon, United States, named after Mount Hood. Opened in 1966, MHCC enrolls around 30,000 students each year and offers classes at the main campus in Gresham, as well as ...

board. In 1974, she married Oregon state representative and later

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Frank L. Roberts, who became her political mentor. In 1980, she was elected to the

as a

, was re-elected in 1982. Her Democratic colleagues chose her as House Majority Leader, Oregon's first woman to hold that post.

Secretary of State

In 1984, Roberts was elected as

, the first Democrat elected to that post in over 100 years. She was re-elected in 1988. Her significant achievements as Secretary of State include election-reform legislation, the construction of a new state archives building, and broader audit powers for the Secretary of State. The

Portland Gay Men's Chorus The Portland Gay Men's Chorus (PGMC) is a gay-identified, non-profit choral group based in Portland, Oregon. The group was founded in the spring of 1980 when three founding members, inspired by a performance of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus ...

sang at her inauguration. It is widely believed that this was the first time that a gay-identified chorus sang for the inauguration of a statewide elected official of any state. During her second term, Roberts attended an executive program at the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

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Governor

Democratic Gov.

Neil Goldschmidt Neil Edward Goldschmidt (June 16, 1940 – June 12, 2024) was an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state, and federal offices over three decades. After serving as mayor of Portland, Oregon, ...

announced that he would not seek a second term as

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 1990. Roberts, halfway through her second term as secretary of state, announced she would run for governor. She ran unopposed in the Democratic

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and went on to defeat Republican

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

David B. Frohnmayer and Independent Al Mobley in the November

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. Roberts became the first woman elected Governor of Oregon. During that same election, voters passed Ballot Measure 5, which established constitutional limits on property-tax rates. During her term as governor, Roberts worked with the Clinton administration to secure federal waivers and funding for the Oregon Health Plan. She also helped to increase the number of children in the

Head Start Program Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. It is the olde ...

, secured financing for additional units of affordable housing, and developed programs to help move Oregonians from welfare to the workplace. The Roberts administration was known for its strong support of

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Not ...

and appointed women to positions in state government. Her husband, Frank L. Roberts, died in 1993 from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

while she was still governor. After his death, Barbara Roberts wrote the book '' Death Without Denial Grief Without Apology: A Guide for Facing Death and Loss''. There were several factors that were responsible for Roberts' decision not to seek re-election in 1994. The leading cause was to process the loss of her husband.

Later life and family

Soon after she left office, Roberts accepted a position at the

as director of the Harvard Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government and later as a senior fellow to the Women and Public Policy Program. In 1998, Roberts joined

's Hatfield School of Government's Executive Leadership Institute as Associate Director of Leadership Development. Roberts has continued her community service, sitting on the board of trustees for several major nonprofit organizations, including the Oregon Hospice Association, the Human Rights Campaign, and the advisory council of Oregon's Compassion in Dying. She has also maintained an active public speaking career, addressing issues of death and grieving, leadership, women in politics, and environmental stewardship. Roberts has two sons, Mike and Mark Sanders, and two grandchildren, Robert M. Sanders and Kaitlin Sanders. Roberts High School in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, was named after her in 1996.

Return to government service

In early 2011, Roberts returned to government service, as a member of the six-person

council, the

's elected regional government, after Robert Liberty resigned in January from his position as councillor representing Metro district 6. Roberts was appointed to the council in February to fill the remainder (about 22 months) of Liberty's four-year term, by a vote of the council. Although Metro council positions are publicly elected offices, an election is not required when filling a council vacancy in mid-term. She was sworn in on February 24, 2011. Metro district 6 includes portions of Northeast, Southeast and Southwest Portland. She indicated that she would not be a candidate for the position when it next came due for election, in May 2012, and Bob Stacey was elected to the district 6 seat at that time. Roberts' council term ended, and Stacey succeeded her, in January 2013.

References

External links

Barbara Roberts' Inaugural MessageBarbara Roberts' 1995 Farewell MessageOregon State Archives, Governor Barbara RobertsOregon Historical Project, Women in Oregon politicsBrief Profile of Governor Barbara Roberts
* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Barbara 1936 births Autism activists Democratic Party governors of Oregon Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Marylhurst University alumni Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Metro councilors (Oregon regional government) Multnomah County Commissioners People from Yamhill County, Oregon Politicians from Corvallis, Oregon Politicians from Portland, Oregon Portland State University alumni Roberts family (Oregon) School board members in Oregon Women state governors of the United States Women state legislators in Oregon Writers from Oregon 20th-century Oregon politicians First women governors 20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly 20th-century American women politicians