Jeff Stone (Wisconsin politician)


Jeff Stone is an American businessman and former politician.

Biography

Stone was born in Topeka, Kansas. He was raised in Zanesville, Ohio, and graduated from West Muskingum High School before returning to Topeka to attend Washburn University. He graduated from that institution in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history, magna cum laude.

State and local politics

After moving to Wisconsin, Stone served in the city council of Greenfield, Wisconsin from 1994 to 1998. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in a special election in 1998. He has been re-elected until he decided to resign in October 2013.
In 2010, Stone announced his candidacy for the office of Milwaukee County Executive, challenging Jim Sullivan, Lee Holloway, Chris Abele, and Iesha Griffin in the nonpartisan February primary. While Stone won the primary with 43% of the vote, he lost the general election to Chris Abele.
On October 14, 2013, Stone resigned from the Wisconsin State Assembly; he will be working for the Wisconsin Public Service Commission as the division administrator for Water Compliance and Consumer Affairs.

Business career

Stone is the owner of the Greendale, Wisconsin based company, the Printing Factory, a company that he started with his wife Lynn.
As of February 2011, there were no records with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions indicating the existence or corporate standing of the company.

Voter ID

In 2005, Stone co-sponsored a Voter ID bill with Senator Joe Liebham of Sheboygan that passed the State Assembly and Senate, but was vetoed by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle
In 2011, Stone and Senator Joe Leibham introduced a similar Voter ID bill providing more oversight and restrictions than past legislative proposals. Stone stated that his bill will provide people working at the polls with the right tools to know if the person voting is the person they claim to be. Opponents of the bill argue that the law will result in the suppression of votes of minority voters who don't have photo identification. Supporters argue that it would protect against the type of voter fraud allegedly observed in Milwaukee during the 2004 Presidential election.