Cathy Perfect
Kern Valley Sun

State Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested in the early hours of March 3 on charges of driving under the influence in Sacramento.

Sources told the CBS-TV affiliate KOVR in Sacramento Ashburn was seen leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento. Ashburn's male passenger, not identified as a lawmaker, was not detained, officials said.

Roy Ashburn's booking photo from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, taken March 3, after his arrest on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Sgt. Rick Campbell of the CHP in Sacramento said he pulled over Ashburn at 2:00 a.m. Wednesday after Campbell noticed a black Chevy Tahoe weaving in his lane at 13th and L Streets.

The arresting officer described Ashburn as having bloodshot, watery eyes and smelling of alcohol. Campbell administered a field sobriety test at the scene, and Ashburn was charged with driving under the influence. “He was extremely cooperative throughout the entire process,” Campbell said.

The Associated Press quoted the Sacramento County district attorney as saying Ashburn’s blood alcohol level was .14 percent when he was arrested.

He was booked into the Sacramento County Jail, where he remained for eight hours before posting a $1,400 bond.

The state-issued vehicle Ashburn was driving has been impounded at the Capitol for 30 days.

“This was not the Roy Ashburn I knew, (a comment heard repeatedly from locals),” said Sun publisher Marsha Smith.  “Many locals, including me, worked along side Ashburn during his avid promotion of our communities’ growth and local issue intervention,” she said. “What happened to the man we supported and supported us, believed in us as we believed in him,” she asked.

“Ashburn’s past dedication to our valley cannot be discounted nor forgotten, but the disappointment remains if in fact his advocacy has not been for the people but his own self-interest, and that remains to be proven,” Smith said.

Roy Ashburn, a divorced father of four daughters, ran on a family-values platform, hosted  a Traditional Values Coalition rally in Bakersfield, and received a perfect score of 100 percent on the Capitol Resource Family Impact scorecard for never voting yes to any equality legislation, ever.

“Republicans always claim to be the party of family values yet time and again we see Republicans enjoy more than their fare share of scandal,” commented Gary Amstutz, president of the Democratic Club of Kern Valley. "'Family Values' is just an empty campaign slogan; another myth perpetuated by opportunistic politicians playing on the sentiments of the religious right. The reality for many Republicans is that they are not who they say they are.”

In an on-air interview with KERN Newstalk 1180 Inga Barks Monday morning, Ashburn told Barks, “I am gay and so those are the words that have been difficult for me for so long.”

Ashburn served six years as a state Assemblyman before being elected to the State Senate. Ashburn represents the 18th Senate District, encompassing Kern, Tulare, Inyo, and San Bernardino Counties.

“We can’t expect our politicians to be saints, but we can expect them to follow the law,” said Steve Maviglio, a Sacramento-based Democrat strategist.

Attempts to contact local Republican leaders went unanswered.