Our View: Vote for Ellis in 32nd District special primary
The candidates running to succeed Fong are Bakersfield entrepreneur Stan Ellis, a Republican; educator and Bakersfield City School District Board trustee Chris Cruz-Boone, a Democrat; and two political newcomers, author, educator and business owner Holli Willibey, a Republican; and social worker William Brown, a Libertarian.
Unanimously endorsed by the Kern County Republican Central Committee, Ellis is recognized for being an innovative businessman and philanthropist. He is the most uniquely qualified among the Assembly candidates. He should be elected to replace Fong.
Growing up on a South Dakota farm, Ellis worked his way through the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ellis took a job in 1975 as a 'mud engineer' in Kern's oil patch. He formed his first company, West Coast Mud, in 1982.
Eventually he branched out into the chemical process industry with his company Global Environmental, focusing on minimizing waste from oil refineries. With offices in Bakersfield, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Houston, Ellis would fly his Beechcraft King Air between locations to oversee operations.
In more recent years, he founded the quantum physics lab Qubitekk. The company is collaborating with the departments of Energy and Defense to advance cybersecurity in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ellis developed a radiation device to irradiate and mutate RNA to kill viruses.
An admitted science fanatic who holds several patents, Ellis believes he is the first U.S. manufacturer to work with quantum-entangled split protons. Ellis serves on Cal State Bakersfield's Engineering Advisory Board.
But Ellis hasn't lost his agricultural roots. He also owns a pistachio orchard, too.
Ellis is well-known for his interest in entertainment. He formerly owned the Bakersfield Jam basketball team and promoted mixed martial arts to Bakersfield audiences. On the side, he was the lead guitarist for the band Stampede, which performed at Bakersfield's Crystal Palace.
'I like the entertainment business,' Ellis told The Californian in a 2016 interview. 'I like watching people have a great time.'
His philanthropy includes a $250,000 donation he and his wife, Bonnie, made to Bakersfield Memorial Hospital to help construct the hospital's Children's Pavilion for Emergency Care.
His current 32nd District campaign has echoes of his campaign for the same post in 2006, when Bakersfield's long-time Congressman Bill Thomas was retiring and being replaced by his protégé, then 32nd District Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy.
Although Ellis at the time was well-known as a local businessman, he was not publicly well known. He spent nearly $500,000 of his own money to raise his name recognition, but still lost to Jean Fuller, who was then the superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District.
Asked by The Californian why he was competing in the 2006 race, Ellis credited his wife for encouraging him.
'I'm forever complaining at the TV about politicians and bureaucrats,' Ellis told The Californian in 2006. 'And my wife would say, 'Why don't you do something about it?''
Over the years, Ellis has not lost his fervor for going to Sacramento and making the legislative process more responsive to the needs of Kern County and the Central Valley.
The father of five adult children and 20 grandchildren, Ellis says he was motivated to run this year for the 32nd District seat 'by a profound sense of duty to future generations.'
If a candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in the Feb. 25 special primary election, he or she will be quickly sworn into the 32nd District Assembly seat. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two vote-getters will compete in a special general election on April 29.
Ellis has a business and personal reputation for being a problem solver.
The California Legislature really needs a problem solver. Vote for Stan Ellis.
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