Jones will now replace Steve Poizner, the current California Insurance Commissioner, in January of 2011.

Dave Jones has been a California Assemblyman representing California’s 9th assembly district since 2004.  Prior to his election to the State Assembly, Jones was a member of the Sacramento City Council, representing the 6th District which includes much of Southeastern Sacramento and the College Greens neighborhood in East Sacramento. He served for five and a half years after winning a 1999 special election to replace Darrell Steinberg, also his predecessor in the Assembly.

Before his election to the city council, he worked for six years as a legal aid attorney with Legal Services of Northern California, providing free legal assistance to the poor. In 1995, Jones was one of 13 Americans awarded a White House Fellowship. Jones served in the Clinton administration for three years. He first served as a special assistant to Janet Reno and later as her counsel.

Jones received his undergraduate degree from DePauw University, his law degree from Harvard Law School, and a masters in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

The California state insurance commissioner has been an elected office since 1990.  It oversees the state Department of Insurance, monitoring the actions of the $100-plus billion insurance industry in California