Babbage, a practicing attorney, was elected to the California State Assembly in 1948 to represent the Seventy-sixth District. His principal committee service was on: Crimes and Corrections; Education; and Judiciary. He played a crucial role in obtaining funding for the establishment of the University of California, Riverside. He served two terms (1948-1952). From 1954 to 1959, he was vice chairman of the California Law Revision Commission. From 1963 to 1970, he was a member of the California Constitutional Revision Commission.
From the description of Oral history interview with John D. Babbage : oral history transcript / By Enid H. Douglass, Oral History Program, Claremont Graduate School, for the State Government Oral History Program, California State Archives, 1987. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 214961657
