Barry Keene

A native of Atlantic City, New Jersey, Keene earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University and his law degree from Stanford Law School. He became a member of the California Bar in 1966, and accepted a position as a Sonoma County deputy district attorney in 1968.[1] That same year, he won his first election to public office, to the Rincon Valley School Board.

In 1970 Keene won the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District in the California State Assembly, which included the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino, and a portion of Sonoma County. In the general election he tried to unseat longtime Republican Assemblyman Frank P. Belotti, but lost narrowly. Keene successfully ran again for the Assembly in 1972 following the death of Belotti.

Keene served six years in the Assembly, holding leadership positions as chairman of the Elections and Reapportionment Committee and later as chairman of the Health Committee. In 1978 Keene was urged to run for a seat in the California State Senate, left open by the retirement of Republican Senator Peter H. Behr. The 2nd Senate District included the 2nd Assembly District and all of Marin County, spanning over one-third of the entire California coastline, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Keene won the 1978 election and was re-elected to the Senate in 1982, 1986 and 1990. He held several powerful positions in the Senate, including chairing the Judiciary Committee and serving as Majority Leader, until his resignation on December 15, 1992.[2] During his tenure as a state legislator, Keene worked on:

• The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (1967), which required official meetings of state boards and commissions to follow rules similar to those of the 1953 Brown Act;
• The Keene Act, the first comprehensive medical malpractice statute; and
• The Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act of 1990.[1]

Upon leaving the legislature, Keene taught politics at Sacramento State University, the University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford. In 2000, he was appointed by Governor Gray Davis as director of the California Department of General Services. In 2008 he was appointed to the California Student Aid Commission.[1]

• Vassar, Alex; Shane Meyers. "Join California, Election History of the State of California". Retrieved April 18, 2011.

• Guide to the Barry Keene Papers