Stanley William Ellis is an American businessman and politician serving 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 ...

for the 32nd district since 2025. A Republican, he won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to succeed

Vince Fong Vincent Karchi Fong (born October 24, 1979) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for California's 20th congressional district since 2024. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previo ...

Early life and education

Ellis grew up on a hog farm in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

and graduated from the

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers b ...

with a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

Career

After college, Ellis moved to

Kern County Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

, starting several small businesses in the

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

industries. He also worked in

quantum physics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

, founding his own lab and co-founding Qubitekk, Inc., which was acquired by

IonQ IonQ, Inc. is an American quantum computing hardware and software company headquartered in College Park, Maryland. The company develops general-purpose trapped ion quantum computers and accompanying software to generate, optimize, and execute ...

in January 2025. Ellis previously owned the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

franchise.

2024 congressional campaign

Ellis ran for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

California's 20th congressional district California's 20th congressional district is a congressional district in California's congressional districts, California including much of the southern and southeastern part of the state's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The distri ...

. He was eliminated in the blanket primary placing 6th with 2.1% of the vote.

California State Assembly

Ellis ran for the

in the 32nd district in the 2025 special election to succeed incumbent

, who resigned after being elected to the

in 2024. He had previously ran in the district in 2006, losing in the primary to Jean Fuller. He garnered support from Fong,

David Valadao David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A m ...

, and other Republican elected officials in the Central Valley region. Ellis won outright and declared victory the next day. Ellis was sworn in on March 3, 2025.

Electoral history

2025

2024

2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Stan Living people 1952 births People from Bakersfield, California South Dakota School of Mines and Technology alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly 21st-century members of the California State Legislature