Allison Ball

As a former prosecutor, Allison Ball has had a lot of practice arguing her point. “I’m used to not having everybody in agreement with you, and how to fight for things you believe in,” she says. 

It’s a skill that helped propel her to victory in 2015 as a relatively unknown 34-year-old candidate running for a statewide office against a longtime state representative. Since then, she has channeled her energy into making her office a more effective financial watchdog. 

She’s launched a state spending transparency website and hopes to eventually expand it to include local spending. She also started an investment savings program for people with disabilities. Neither program cost any extra money, a point she’s particularly proud of. In fact, Ball has voluntarily cut her office’s budget each year. 

Now 36, she’s still the nation’s youngest woman serving in a statewide position; she hopes her success can inspire other women. “I hope,” she says, “when they see me running and winning right out of the gate, that they know they can do it too.”