Jerome Edgar Horton (born September 14, 1956) is an American accountant and politician who was a member of the

California Board of Equalization The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a public agency charged with Tax, tax administration and Fee, fee collection in the state of California in the United States. The authorities of the Board attempt to ensure that counties fairl ...

from the 3rd district from October 5, 2009 to January 7, 2019. He previously served as a member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

from 2000 until 2006.

Career

On July 15, 2009, Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

nominated Horton for the 3rd district of the

to replace

Judy Chu Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. ...

, who resigned from the board to become a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Horton was confirmed by both houses of the legislature and sworn into office on October 5, 2009, at which point he was immediately elected the board's vice chair. On November 2, 2010, he was elected to his own four-year term. Horton served as chair of the board from 2011 to 2016. On November 9, 2020, Horton announced his candidacy for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in California.

Allegations of Improper Activity

An audit by the

California Department of Finance The California Department of Finance is a state cabinet-level agency within the government of California. The Department of Finance is responsible for preparing, explaining, and administering the state's annual financial plan, which the governo ...

of Horton's tenure as board chairman revealed missing funds and signs of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

, leading to calls for the governor to put the board under a public trustee. In June 2017, the

California Department of Justice The California Department of Justice is a statewide investigative law enforcement agency and legal department of the California executive branch under the elected leadership of the Attorney General of California (AG) which carries out comple ...

began a criminal investigation into the members of the board leading to

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

stripping the board of most of its powers.

Electoral history

2010

2006

2004

2002

References

External links

Legislative website
(archived) *
Join California Jerome E. Horton
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Jerome 1956 births African-American state legislators in California Living people Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Politicians from Los Angeles County, California Politicians from Pine Bluff, Arkansas 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the California State Legislature