Meet Barbara
Barbara Gooby is a passionate advocate dedicated to serving our community as a candidate for Georgia State Senate District 1 in 2026. With a strong background in public service and grassroots advocacy, Barbara understands the issues that matter most to you. She believes in transparency and open communication, providing a platform for feedback and engagement. Barbara is committed to addressing the needs of the community by ensuring that every voice is heard. Together, we can build a brighter future for every resident of Georgia's Senate District 1.
Barbara has lived in Savannah, Georgia since 2005. Recently retired, she worked 30+ years as an administrative/executive assistant in institutions of higher education (Univ. of North Carolina, NC School of Science & Math, Georgia Southern), giving her expertise in problem solving, project management, and connecting people with resources.
Education
Bachelor's degree: Vassar College, Political Science major
J.D. (law degree): Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A. in Mental Health Counseling: South University
I have been very fortunate to receive a top-notch education. This enables me to think through issues critically, solve problems effectively and efficiently, and work well with all kinds of people. My law degree also means I will be able to craft legislation with clarity and without unintended effects.
Community Involvement
Board member & President of nonprofit organizations since 1995
Poll worker/poll manager, 2016 - 2025
Justice Unites Savannah Together (JUST): team leader
ACLU of Georgia: member
Asbury Memorial Church, Savannah: member and Stephen Minister
Georgia & Savannah Federation of Democratic Women: member
Georgia WIN Leadership Academy (first Savannah class, 2017)
Justice Unites Savannah Together (JUST): team leader
League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia: member
NAACP, Savannah branch: member
Ogeechee River Keeper: member
One Hundred Miles: member
Savannah Affordable Housing Alliance: member
Interesting Things...
I lost on Jeopardy! (I came in 2nd -- air date 9/18/2018)
My husband and I met via eHarmony -- it worked!
Bone marrow donor, 1991
Why I'm Running
I am angry. Angry about our President not only ignoring the U.S. Constitution, but actively trying to subvert it, actively working to eliminate the hard-won rights of the ordinary citizen, and especially to further marginalize our most vulnerable people and communities. Angry that our Congress and Republican-led state legislature aren't protecting us.
I don't like to be angry because it is destructive and serves no purpose, so instead I try to find a way to solve the problem. Taking action and working with others who are seeking a solution is productive rather than destructive. To see a community coming together to address issues and to heal is a beautiful thing, and I want to help this productive, beautiful community thrive.
Another reason I'm running is that I feel that I have been called to serve the people and not myself. If I wanted to serve myself, I'd be sitting on the beach with my husband and a good book, or working on one of the half dozen crafting projects sitting around our house!
A little over a year ago, my Bible Study class (a perk of being retired is that I can participate in Bible Study during the week!) was studying Deborah and the Judges. At the end of every chapter, the author of the study we used (Sandra Richter) asked: 1) What do you see that needs to be made right? 2) Is it worth fighting for? 3) What are you going to do about it?
THIS is what I'm doing about it! I'm working to take the voice -- the power -- of our community to Atlanta and making YOUR voice heard loud and clear! I'm running to make sure our working families and marginalized communities get the resources we need in order to thrive. I've listened to you, and our community wants sustainable infrastructure, support for our working families, and the rights guaranteed to us in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
I have no ambitions beyond this -- beyond making your voice heard and your power heeded in Atlanta. I look forward to serving you, then retiring once again to sit on the beach with my husband and a good book!
Influences
"The breath you have left -- that's what you've been given. That's what you owe. Breath is a gift and a responsibility. We're not gonna sit here and let healthcare die. We're not gonna sit here and let healthcare die. We're not gonna sit here and let living wages dies. We're not gonna sit here and let democracy die. It's time to live. It's time to stand. It's time to speak. To protest. To live justice." ~Bishop William J. Barber II
Over the past 45 years, inequality has grown exponentially for all Americans, but especially (and surprisingly) for poor and low-income white people. And yet, the GOP's major policy achievement for 2025 was to cut government programs that help everyday Americans in order to provide corporations and the ultra-wealthy with historically low tax rates [less than 1/2 of what they were 1965-1981]. ~ paraphrased from Bishop William J. Barber II
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." ~Micah 6:8
"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." ~Matthew 22:37-40
"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brethren*, you did it to me.'" ~Matthew 25:40
*the least of my brethren = most marginalized communities
"Democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism -- ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." ~President Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Don't be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered." ~Michelle Obama, Jan. 2017
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world....
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us."
~excerpt from Our Deepest Fear by Rev. Marianne Williamson
"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do... for themselves." ~President Abraham Lincoln