Bill Stone (born December 29, 1965, in Memphis, Tennessee) is a former Democratic member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...

and Chairman of the Mississippi Senate Democratic Caucus. He represented the 2nd district, which included Benton, Marshall and Tippah Counties, from 2008 to 2015 and 10th district which includes all of

Tate County Tate County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,886. Its county seat is Senatobia. Organized in 1873 during the Reconstruction era, from portions of DeS ...

and most of Marshall County from 2016 to 2018. Prior to being elected Senator, Stone was twice elected Mayor of Ashland, Mississippi.

Biography

Bill Stone was born December 29, 1965, in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from

Northeast Community College Northeast Community College (NECC) is a public community college system in northeast Nebraska with four campuses: Norfolk, O'Neill, South Sioux City, and West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metony ...

and attended the University of Mississippi. Stone is married to the former Debbie Samples of Ashland and they have three children, Jessi Shaw, Will and Adam, and five grandchildren. Senator Stone is a member of the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi, Ole Miss Alumni Association and is a retired volunteer firefighter. In 2001, he was elected Mayor of Ashland and was reelected in 2005. As Mayor of Ashland, Stone served on the Mississippi Municipal League

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, Vice-Chairman of the Municipal Gas Authority of Mississippi (MGAM), Chairman of the North Mississippi Mayors Association and continues to serve on the Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi.

Mississippi Senate

In 2007, Stone ran for Mississippi Senate in the 2nd district and defeated incumbent Republican Ralph H. Doxey winning 61% of the vote to Doxey’s 39%. He was re-elected in 2011 by an even larger margin winning 70% of the vote to his opponent’s 30%. Due to GOP gerrymandering, the 2nd district was collapsed and Stone’s home in Ashland was moved into the 3rd district represented by longtime legislator

Nickey Browning Nickey Reed Browning (born July 19, 1951) is a former Republican member of the Mississippi Senate, having represented the 3rd District in northeastern Mississippi from 1996 to 2020. Early life and education Browning was born on July 19, 1951, ...

. Stone then moved to

Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in, and the county seat of, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the southern border of Tennessee. Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations and was dep ...

and ran for reelection in the 10th district against fellow incumbent, Steve Hale. In addition to Holly Springs, the new 10th district includes Senatobia, Coldwater, Independence, Tyro, Strayhorn,

Thyatira Thyateira (also Thyatira) ( grc, Θυάτειρα) was the name of an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor, now the modern Turkish city of Akhisar ("white castle"). The name is probably Lydian. It lies in the far west of Turkey, south of Istanbul ...

and

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

and most of Marshall County excluding the northwest corner. Hale subsequently challenged Stone’s residency in a case that went to the

Mississippi Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

. In a split decision, the court ruled that Stone was eligible to run in the new 10th district. Stone defeated Hale in the Democratic primary 57% to 43% and was unopposed in the General Election. Stone was elected Vice-Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus in 2016 and, at the beginning of the 2017 Legislative Session, was elected to replace Senator John Horhn resigned as Chairman to spend more time on his campaign for Mayor of Jackson.

Committee assignments

Stone's committee assignments include: Executive Contingency Fund (Chairman); Constitution; County Affairs; Finance; Forestry; Highways and Transportation; Municipalities; Universities and Colleges; and Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

References

External links

Bill Stone
at Mississippi State Senate website
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Bill 1965 births Living people Mayors of places in Mississippi 21st-century mayors of populated places in the United States Democratic Party Mississippi state senators 21st-century American legislators People from Ashland, Mississippi