Robert J. Jones

Member of the Francisca House of Representatives from Ashalintubbi District 12 (1980-2012)

SFC Minority Whip (2002-2004)

## Biographical information

### Marital status

Giulietta Marz (m. 1962; d. 1978)Mitja Esposito Jones (m. 1983)

### Place of birth

Monza, Ashalintubbi

**Robert Johnson Jones** (Born 2, 1941 - Present) is a Franciscan politician, lobbyist, and businessman who served as House Representative from Ashalintubbi's 12th district as a member of the SFC party from 1980 until 2012, holding the position as SFC Minority Whip from 2002-2004. Jones was known for most of his tenure as one of the most conservative members in congress. A product of the Franciscan Conservative Era, he was known for his staunch anti-LGBT, pro-life, anti-immigration, and climate change denying stances - opinions that eventually led to his fall from party leadership and, ultimately, his defeat in the 2012 House elections.

Upon his defeat in 2012, Jones joined the prominent conservative lobbying organization "Our Nation of Freedom," which has been noted for its support of nationalist candidates throughout its history. He became the chair of the organization in 2016.

## Life

Jones was born in 1941 to Cephus Jones and Marsha Smith Jones. Cephus was a Baptist minister, while Marsha was a stay-at-home mom. He was raised a devout Christian in a conservative household, and carried these beliefs throughout his entire life. After graduating from North High School in 1959, he attended the University of Monza, where he attained a bachelor's degree in business, graduating in 1963. He would found Jones' Pasta, a casual Franciscan cuisine restaurant that year with money given to him by his mother. The first location would be in the Monza suburb of Blackburn. By 1967, the restaurant was a favorite in the city. He would open up two new locations the following year, one in Cafasse and one in Monza proper.

### Monza City Council

In 1970, after a successful tenure as the owner of Jones' Pasta, Jones would run for Monza city council as a representative from district 5 - popularly known as the most conservative district in the city, and where Jones resided - to replace incumbent Donald Strambino, who had decided to run for the House of Representatives from Ashalintubbi's 12th district. Jones would easily win the SFC party nomination, and would go on to defeat SFP candidate Ursel Strom. At the time of his win, he was one of three SFC members on the city council. Throughout most of his career on the council, he would be known for striking down numerous progressive bills put forth by the comparably progressive liberal members of the council that were part of the SFP. Notably, he would stall several bills aiming to improve public transportation and increase the number of public parks in the city. He would, however, campaign for improved infrastructure in the city, and tax reform.

Jones controversially supported a bill in the city to defund Monza City Schools in 1974. The bill did not pass however. A bill introduced in 1975 to update the curriculum of the city's schools was also notably opposed by Jones, who accused his colleagues of trying to "radicalize our students" with "far-left propaganda" in the form of new textbooks and new learning techniques.

Jones became minority leader of the council in 1976 after fellow SFC member Tucker Stanley from district 6 was defeated by SFP candidate Steven Baxter. Stanley had served on the city council since 1966.

Jones chose not to run in the 1980 election in favor of running for a position in the Franciscan House of Representatives.

### Congress

Jones ran for Ashalintubbi's 12th congressional district seat in 1980 following the retirement of incumbent Donald Strambino, who had previously held Jones' seat in the 5th Council District in Monza prior to his tenure. Jones won the nomination, narrowly edging out longtime SFC doner and supporter Vincenzu Accursio. He went on to defeat SFP challenger Nola Bawrkwar 51.02% to 48,98% - the closest election in the district in nearly 20 years.

Jones quickly became one of the most conservative members of congress, even for 1980s standards - the peak of the Franciscan Conservative Era. He joined the House National Caucus, known as the most conservative group of representatives in both the senate and house. In 1981, he co-authored a bill with fellow National Caucus member Antoine Napoli that would have completely irradicated any gun restrictions in Francisca - though it failed to get out of the house. In 1982, he championed a movement to add an amendment to the constitution that would have specifically stated marriage was to only occur between men and women - something that was quickly swept down.

During the outbreak of the Stonewall Movement in 1994, Jones and other conservative members of congress quickly began efforts to punish and further persecute LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those involved in the riots. Several controversial statements made by him during this time led to him becoming known as one of the most homophobic members of congress.

Jones was named the "Most Conservative Member of the House" in 1995 by *The Political Post.*

Jones attempted to pass legislation punishing immigrants of certain races in 1997. This included immigration and travel bans from nations such as Budda, the Jack Republic, and Romany. It did not pass.

Jones took his attempts to persecute LGBTQ+ individuals a step further in the 2000s, introducing a bill to ban people suspected of being LGBTQ+ from adopting children in 2001. In 2005, he would become one of the largest adversaries of the passing of the Gay Rights Bill, calling it "A Threat to the Nation."

   Jones served as House Minority Whip from 2002-2004, despite his growing unpopularity in the party. He was stripped of this role in 2004 after calls to do such by his colleagues due to disagreements with fellow congressmen, and his growing reputation for controversy, homophobia, and xenophobic ideals.

In 2007, Jones publicly began declaring that climate change was a hoax, and accused his left-leaning counterparts and left-win media outlets of pushing a false narrative regarding the existence of global warming.

In 2009, Jones created controversy after stalling the passage of a vital national economic bill by filibustering for 7 hours straight. Fellow congressman Levi Spann called the fillibuster "one of the silliest, most idiotic, and most anti-democratic things that I've seen during my time in congress."

In 2010, he opposed the Conversation Therapy Ban Bill. This, along with an attempt to defund public schools, an attempt to add an amendment declaring Christianity the official religion of Francisca, and accusations of fraud in the 2010 congressional elections made by him led to Jones being censured by the SFC, and stripped of his committee assignments. These controversies, as well as accusations of corruption, led to him losing in an upset defeat to Progressive Romulus Oregon, who shocked many by defeating SFP challenger Carl Miller for the 2nd spot in the election. Many expressed shock by the sudden change in politics in the district, as Oregon became one of the most left-leaning members of congress, replacing one of the most right-leaning members in the process. Oregon was defeated in 2014.

### After Congress

Jones became a lobbyist after his loss, joining the prominent conservative lobbying group "Our Nation of Freedom," which has been noted for its support of nationalist candidates throughout its history. He became the chair of the organization in 2016.

Jones briefly hosted his own podcast, *The Line with Robert J. Jones* from 2019 to 2020, but it was cancelled by Sentinel Radio after people threatened to boycott the site if it remained on air. Jones was known for parroting right-wing conspiracy theories during the show, and provided a platform to many radical right-wing individuals, especially prominent conspiracy theorists.

## Personal Life

Jones was married to Giuletta Marz, a middle school Franciscan teacher, in 1962. They had 3 children together, Robert Jones Jr (Born 1965), Steven Jones (born 1972), and Harvey Jones (Born 1977). The coupled divorced in 1978. Jones remarried to Mitja Esposito, a model, in 1983. She is 18 years his junior. The couple have 4 children together, Daniel Jones (Born 1984), Amy Jones (Born 1987), Irena Jones (Born 1995), and Ezio Jones (Born 1999).

Jones currently resides with his wife in the town of Ordination outside of Monza.

Jones had surgery to remove a patch of skin cancer on his back in 2017. He had another procedure to remove another patch of cancerous skin on his leg in 2019.