Jeff Stone (California politician)


Jeff Stone is an American politician and pharmacist who served as a member of the California State Senate from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Republican party, Stone represented the 28th district, encompassing parts of Riverside County. Prior to his 2014 election to the state senate, he was a Riverside County Supervisor. Stone stepped down from the Senate in 2019 after being nominated Western Regional Director of the United States Department of Labor by President Donald Trump.

Early life and education

Stone was born and raised in Los Angeles County, California. He earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the USC School of Pharmacy.

Career

After earning his doctoral degree, Stone relocated to Temecula, California and opened a small business. She served as a member of the Temecula City Council before being elected to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.
In the 2014 general election, he defeated former Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, another Republican. Stone is Jewish. He was the only Republican member of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus until he resigned from the caucus, saying it was preoccupied with criticizing President Donald Trump. He resigned the same day the Jewish Caucus released a statement condemning the white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
In 2016, Stone was the Republican nominee for California's 36th congressional district, but he lost the general election to Raul Ruiz by a wide margin. He was narrowly re-elected to the Senate in 2018. He resigned on November 1, 2019 after accepting an appointment with the U.S. Department of Labor to become its western regional director.
On October 30, 2019, Stone resigned from the California State Senate to become Western Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor. After a special election held on May 13, 2020, Stone was succeeded in the State Senate by Republican Assemblywoman, Melissa Melendez.