Barbara Fleischauer

Barbara Evans Fleischauer (born September 1, 1953, in Homestead, Pennsylvania) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 51 since January 12, 2013.

Fleischauer served consecutively from January 2007 until January 2013 and non-consecutively from January 1995 until January 2005 in a District 44 seat.

In November 2021, Fleischauer announced she would not seek re-election to the House of Delegates and instead run for the 13th District in the 2022 elections for the West Virginia Senate.

Until Republicans gained control of the House following the 2014 elections, Fleischauer chaired the Committee on Constitutional Revision during the 73rd, 74th, 75th, 76th, 78th, 79th, 80th and 81st Legislatures (1996–2004; 2006–2014); co-chaired the Equal Pay Commission during the 73rd, 74th and 75th Legislatures (1996–2002); and co-chaired the Juvenile Task Force during the 73rd, 74th and 75th Legislatures (1996–2002).

Since the 2014 elections, Fleischauer has served as Minority chair of the House Judiciary Committee during the 84th Legislature (2018–2020) and Minority chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee during the 85th Legislature (2020–2022).

This was especially notable given that Fleischauer was the only Democratic member of the delegation just four years earlier, after the 2014 elections.

In 2018, Democrats — including Fleischauer — swept all five seats in the 51st district, the largest multi-member district in the House.

As a result, the Monongalia County delegates, all Democrats, called themselves “The Fab Five” and frequently voted and worked together on bills.

In 2020, Delegate Rodney Pyles was defeated for re-election by former Republican Delegate Joe Statler, breaking the all-Democratic delegation.

Fleischauer earned her BA degree from Allegheny College and her JD from the West Virginia University College of Law.

She is married to West Virginia University College of Law Professor Bob Bastress and has two children.