Ellen Corbett, devoted East Bay public servant who served San Leandro and the Legislature, dies
Corbett served as San Leandro mayor, assemblymember, state senator, and park district director over a distinguished career of more than three decades
—APPRECIATION—Ellen Corbett, a giant among East Bay elected officials and a barrier-breaking trailblazer for a generation of women in the political arena, died on Friday. She was 69.
Intensely private, soft-spoken and kind, Corbett was devoted to two things, according to friends and political allies—public service and her son.
Corbett served eight years in the state Senate, rising to majority leader in 2013. Before that, Corbett served six years in the assembly. But it was her service starting in native San Leandro that provided the groundwork for her legacy in public life.
Corbett was elected to the San Leandro City Council in 1990. Four years later she ran for mayor, attempting to break the generations-long “old boys network” in San Leandro.
With a large field of candidates running for San Leandro mayor in 1994, Corbett won the plurality vote to become the city’s first directly elected female mayor.
Former San Leandro Mayor Shelia Young, who succeeded Corbett in office said Corbett upended the city’s politics. “They came around, but they held a grudge for a long time,” Young said of the city’s old guard. “Ellen would approach them with a smile on her face and everything was alright.”
Early in Corbett’s political career, Young and others described her devotion to her son. A single-mother, Corbett was known to bring her young son to city and political events. Young recalls Corbett son tugging at his mother’s suitpants while giving a speech.
“She devoted her life to the public,” Young said. “She gave almost everything up in her lifetime in service of the public. That much I know to be true, and for that I will always be grateful.”
Corbett was a role model for many women in East Bay politics, Young said, “even if they don’t realize it.”
Corina Lopez, who served the same San Leandro council district that Corbett once represented, said she was among the earliest elected leaders that broke the glass ceiling in San Leandro and the state Legislature.
“Ellen has left an incredible legacy which can be seen all over our area and throughout the state and may her memory always be honored,” Lopez said. “She fought the good old boys network while on the San Leandro City Council. She found a way to work with individuals that were not sure about women being in office, and was able to win them over.”
Similar to Corbett’s unexpected elevation to mayor, she was again an underdog in her bid for the state Senate in 2006.
Corbett faced fellow Democrats John Dutra and Johan Klehs in the primary. Despite clear geographic and financial disadvantages Corbett won the Democratic primary.
In the Legislature, Corbett led the way on bills to protect consumers, and children and seniors, in addition to social issues.
In 2004, Corbett, then serving as chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, approved marriage equality legislation despite reluctance from party’s leadership at the time.
She helped write the California Car Buyers’ Protection Act and the California Homeowner Bill of Rights.
Corbett’s bill to create a seismic safety inventory of K-12 school buildings was signed into law, as was legislation banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
She introduced legislation to help sight-impaired seniors read the labels of their prescription bottles by increasing the font size. With the rise of gift cards a decade ago, Corbett helped mandate that the amount on gift cards remained with consumers.
Toward the end of Corbett’s state Senate term, it became clear to many that she was the obvious heir apparent to long-time Democratic Rep. Pete Stark.
In 2010, expectations that Stark would retire and pass the baton to Corbett never materialized. Stark won another term in Congress, but redistricting in 2012 left Stark at a serious disadvantage to a potential candidate from the Tri-Valley.
Corbett, according to several eyewitnesses at the time, viewed herself as a loyal Democrat who would never attempt to primary Stark.
Dublin Councilmember Eric Swalwell showed no such allegiance and jumped over Corbett and other local Democrats to challenge Stark. Swalwell would pull off the upset and has held the seat ever since.
In 2014, Corbett challenged Swalwell but was narrowly edged out of a spot in the November top two election. It was a stinging defeat for Corbett, and it stuck with her for some time, friends and colleagues said.
Two years later, though, Corbett returned to public office, winning a seat on the East Bay Regional Park District board. She won re-election in 2020.
As late as one month ago, Corbett told colleagues that she intended to run for re-election this fall, highlighting her selfless lifetime of service to the public, friends said.
