Roberts was born Barbara Kay Hughey on December 21, 1936, in Corvallis, Oregon, to Bob and Carmen Murray Hughey. Her father, a millworker, was a descendant of Oregon Trail pioneers. The Hugheys' second daughter Pat was born a few years later and then they moved to Los Angeles, California in 1940 where her father worked as a machinist. Following World War II, 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 Portland where she attended Portland State University from 1961 to 1964. With her older son, Mike, diagnosed in 1962 as "severely emotionally disturbed", she became an advocate for special-needs children. In 1971, she successfully lobbied the Oregon State Legislature to require public schools to guarantee educational rights to these children. In 1972, her marriage to Neal ended in divorce.
In 1984, Roberts was elected as Oregon Secretary of State, the first Democrat elected to that post in over 100 years, and 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 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 John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Governor
Shortly after incumbent Democratic Gov. Neil Goldschmidt announced that he would not seek a second term as governor, Roberts announced her candidacy in the 1990 Oregon gubernatorial election. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and went on to defeat Republican Attorney General David B. Frohnmayer and Independent Al Mobley in the November general election, and 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, 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 and appointed women to positions in state government. Her husband, Frank L. Roberts, died in 1993 from prostate cancer while she was still governor. After his death, Barbara Roberts wrote the book . There were several factors that were responsible for Roberts' decision not to seek re-election in 1994. They included her low approval rating with the voters, as well as voters' refusal to pass a measure to enact a sales tax which would have funded the Oregon Health Plan. As a result of the failed sales tax measure, Roberts was forced to break her campaign promise not to cut spending.
Later life and family
Soon after she left office, Roberts accepted a position at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University 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 Portland State University'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, Mark and Mike. Roberts High School in Salem, Oregon, 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 Metro council, the Portland metropolitan area'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 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.
