Lehman defeated Jones by just under ten points and went on to represent the Fresno-based Assembly district for six years before being elected to the U.S. House.

For years, Jones was an intra-party adversary of Assembly Republican Leader Ross Johnson, and nearly ousted him from the party leadership.

His plan called for putting 90% of government services online by the expiration of his term while also "taking important steps toward closing the Digital Divide to ensure no Californians are left behind."

[citation needed] However, it was controversial for allowing for wide and open adoption of Internet and electronic vote technology with many private vendors competing [1] and few or no technical safeguards in common.

During his tenure as California's Secretary of State, Jones may have played a role in the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, when he charged that vote pairing Internet web sites were illegal.

In 2002, Jones ran in the Republican gubernatorial primary, finishing third, with 16%, behind former Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan and businessman William Simon, Jr., who went on to be defeated by incumbent Gray Davis in the general election.

Jones' campaign largely addressed issues of budget deficits, electrical shortages, and perceived corruption in the Davis administration.

Building on his success promoting technology as Secretary of State, Jones's platform contained an eGovernment plank.

Although he won the 2004 Republican primary over former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, Jones lost the general election to Senator Barbara Boxer, with 38% of the vote.