Brian Jones

Senator Brian Jones (R-Santee) is the Senate Minority Leader and the highest-ranking Republican in California state government, representing the 40th Senate District encompassing inland San Diego County ^[1,2]. A former pastor at Sunrise Community Church in Santee, Jones brings a faith-driven perspective to his legislative work and has earned an 85% score on the California Family Alliance's 2025 legislative scorecard evaluating votes on life, family, parental rights (Chapter 8), and religious liberty ^[3,4]. He is currently running for Lieutenant Governor in the 2026 election ^[1].

Brian W. Jones was born on August 9, 1968, at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas, into a military family of modest means. His family moved frequently before settling in Santee, San Diego County, when Brian was ten years old, seeking better opportunities in California's construction industry. He attended Santee Elementary, Cajon Park Middle School, and Santana High School before earning an associate's degree from Grossmont College and a bachelor's degree in business administration from San Diego State University in 1991. After college, Jones pursued an entrepreneurial path, launching his own carpet cleaning business, selling cars and motorcycles, and working as a general manager at a local pizza franchise, where he met his wife Heather.

Driven by his devotion to his faith community, Jones became an associate pastor at Sunrise Community Church in Santee and served as general manager for a national ministry headquartered in the city. His entry into politics was rooted in his church work: he first became involved by helping his congregation obtain a Conditional Use Permit in 1999. This experience sparked a passion for public service that led him to the Santee City Council in 2002, where he served until 2010 and again from 2017 to 2018. Jones also worked in commercial real estate, specializing in work with churches, and has held a commercial real estate license since 2005 ^[2,5,6].

Jones brought his community-oriented approach to the California State Assembly, representing the 77th District from 2010 to 2012 and the 71st District from 2012 to 2016. During his Assembly tenure, he championed Second Amendment rights, opposed illegal immigration, and advocated for reforms to limit the influence of public-sector labor unions. He was elected to the California State Senate in 2018, representing the 38th District, and was re-elected in 2022 to represent the newly drawn 40th District, defeating Joseph Rocha in the general election. In December 2022, his Republican colleagues elected him as Senate Minority Leader, making him the highest-ranking Republican in California state government ^[1,2,3].

His 60.9% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 101 scored floor votes reflects a mixed record on CFC's core priorities. While he has aligned with CFC on select votes, his overall record diverges from CFC's framework on the sanctity of human life, parental authority in education, and religious liberty.

From the perspective of the California Family Council's WATCHDOG project, Senator Jones is a strong ally on issues central to CFC's mission. His consistent legislative efforts to protect communities from sexually violent predators stand out as a signature achievement. He authored Senate Bill 380, which was signed into law and directed the Department of State Hospitals to investigate placing sexually violent predators in state-run transitional housing rather than in residential neighborhoods. He followed this with the bipartisan SAFE Act (Sexually Violent Predator Accountability, Fairness, and Enforcement Act), which passed the California Senate unanimously.