Preceded by Jane E. Norton Political party Democratic Spouse Rick O'Brien Party Democratic Party | Succeeded by Joseph A. Garcia Profession Charity president Education Columbia University | |
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Born April 18, 1950 (age 66)
Brawley, California ( 1950-04-18 ) Previous office Lieutenant Governor of Colorado (2007–2011) | ||
Barbara O'Brien (born April 18, 1950) was the 47th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. She is a Democrat.
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Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
She was chosen as running mate by Bill Ritter, the Democratic candidate for governor in the 2006 election. The Ritter/O'Brien ticket won with 57% of the vote. As lieutenant governor she made education her signature issue. Ritter chose not to run for re-election in 2010, and O'Brien also stepped down at the end of her term.
Prior to becoming lieutenant governor, she was a speechwriter and policy advisor for Governor Richard Lamm.
Denver School Board director
Barbara O'Brien was elected as the at-large school director of the Denver Public Schools School Board on November 5, 2013, claiming 59.5% of the vote and winning over Michael Kiley and Joan Poston.
The Denver Post newspaper stated that candidates who promised reform won the majority of local school board elections across Colorado in the November 2013 off-year election, and that O'Brien, as well as her fellow winners for Denver School Board positions, were reform candidates.
Business career
As of March 2012, O'Brien was a senior fellow at the Piton Foundation, which uses its private funding to develop, manage, and incubate programs to create opportunities for lower-income families in Denver.