Barbara Alby was an American politician who lived in Fair Oaks, California and was a member of the Republican Party. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Alby dropped out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and went on welfare until her benefits were cut. She first sought elective office in 1991, running in a special election for the Sacramento-based 5th district in the California State Assembly. She lost that race to fellow Republican B. T. Collins, onetime Chief of Staff to Democratic former Gov. Jerry Brown, and narrowly lost to him again in the 1992 Republican primary. After Collins died, Alby won a 1993 special election to succeed him and occupied the Assembly seat until 1998 when term limits forced her from office. That year, she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, attempting to succeed veteran Democrat Vic Fazio in the Sacramento-based 3rd district after Fazio retired after redistricting made the district more politically competitive. Alby lost the Republican primary to moderate businessman Doug Ose by 20 points. Later, Alby assumed the position of chief deputy to Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard. She occupied that post until Leonard resigned in March 2010, at which point she became the Acting Board Member for the seat—during the middle of the period for candidates to file paperwork to appear on the ballot to fill the Board seat in the June primary election, so with just days for candidates to qualify to appear on the ballot, Leonard enabled Alby to run as "Acting Board Member" on the ballot. During the June 2010 primary election, Alby became embroiled in controversy when the Capitol Weekly newspaper revealed that Indian casinos had spent nearly $200,000 on Alby's behalf in the election. Beside Indian casinos, the largest contributors to Alby's campaign were Alby herself, Senator Roy Ashburn, and Bill Leonard, her former boss. Alby resigned as acting Board of Equalization member on December 31, 2010 and was succeeded by acting Board Member Sean Wallentine. Barbara Alby died of a heart attackthe morning ofDecember 9, 2012.
