Richard Dale Roth (born November 6, 1950) is an American politician who previously served in the

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

from 2012 to 2024. A Democrat, he represented the 31st Senate District, encompassing northwestern Riverside County, including the cities of Corona, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley, Norco, Perris, and Riverside. Prior to being elected to the state senate in 2012, Roth served as a major general in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and as a practicing attorney.

Early life

Roth was born on November 6, 1950, in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, and graduated from Ada High School ( Ada,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

) in 1968, where he played in the band and was elected president of his junior class and the student council. He went on to

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

(Ohio), majored in political science, minored in chemistry and enlisted in the ROTC program. After a less-than-perfect eye exam kept him from flight school, Roth set his sights on the Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) and earned his J.D. degree from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in 1974.

Air Force career

After earning admission into the

JAG Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG or JAG Corps) is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judge advocates ...

, Roth entered active duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1975. He served various postings with the Strategic Air Command and Pacific Air Forces units in Arizona, Okinawa, Japan and California. Roth became a resident of Riverside in 1978, when he was assigned to Riverside's 22nd Bomb Wing at March Air Force Base. Transferring from active duty to the Air Force Reserves in 1979, he served at March AFB over the next 13 years with Strategic Air Command and Military Airlift Command units. During this period, he was named Air Force Judge Advocate of the Year (1986) and California Air Force Reserve Officer of the Year (1992). Through the 1990s and early 2000s, Roth worked as a reserve judge advocate at Air Force bases in Georgia, California, and Illinois. He also served at Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command and in the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

. By 2004, he had risen to the rank of major general and served in the Pentagon as mobilization assistant to The Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Air Force, where he oversaw more than 900 Reserve judge advocates and paralegals assigned to more than 200 offices at every level of command and helped to manage the recruitment, training, utilization and deployment of Reserve legal forces worldwide. Roth retired from the Air Force in 2007 after 32 years of service, in the grade of major general. Over the course of his career, he received numerous awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Civilian life

Roth engaged in the practice of labor and employment law with Riverside-based firms for over 30 years and is a member of the State Bars of California and Georgia. Prior to establishing his law practice, Roth worked as an attorney with the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...

. He has served as a part-time adjunct instructor in labor and employment law at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

’s Anderson School of Management and in the university's extension division. Roth is a past chairman of the board for the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and past president of the Monday Morning Group. He is a former member of The Raincross Club, the Riverside Community Hospital Advisory Board, the Thomas W. Wathen Foundation Board (Flabob Airport), the Riverside County Bar Association Board of Directors, the Path of Life Ministries Advisory Board, the Air Force Judge Advocate General's School Foundation Board and the La Sierra University Foundation Board. He is also past vice chairman of the Parkview Community Hospital Board, past member of the Riverside Art Museum Board and a past trustee of the March Field Museum. He currently serves as legal advisor to the Airlift/Tanker Association and as a member of the Riverside Police Foundation. He has served as a lawyer representative to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

Judicial Conference. Roth and his wife Cindy live in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

Election to State Senate

Roth was elected to represent the California State Senate's 31st Senate District on November 6, 2012, defeating state Assemblyman Jeff Miller. He was sworn into office in California's State Capitol in Sacramento on Monday, December 3, 2012. The 31st Senate District, encompasses northwestern Riverside County, including the cities of Corona, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley, Norco, Perris and Riverside.

Electoral history

2024 Riverside County Board of Supervisors, District 1

2020 California State Senate election

2016 California State Senate election

2012 California State Senate election

References

External links

*
Official US Air Force Biography

Join California Richard Roth
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Richard Democratic Party California state senators Living people 1950 births United States Air Force generals California lawyers Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Lawyers from Riverside, California Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio Miami University alumni Emory University alumni 21st-century members of the California State Legislature