Summary Bio

Ellen Corbett, ’85, is the Majority Leader of the California State Senate. A former member of the California State Assembly, she is serving her second term in the upper body of the California Legislature. Corbett is responsible for setting the Democratic agenda, managing the Senate’s floor operations and serving as the chief advisor in political matters and strategy to the Senate President Pro Tempore. Corbett was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and was reelected in 2010. She represents the 10th Senate District, an East Bay district that includes many cities on the southeast side of the Bay. Corbett, who has a long history of public service in her district, has the distinction of having served as the chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and as the chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, which approves gubernatorial appointments. Her legislative record includes legislation to reduce prescription drug costs, restore wetlands along the Bay, and protect consumer rights.