Carol Bentley Ellis

She was born Carol Curtis in Riverside, California, the daughter of Francis Curtis and Irene Ingberg Curtis. She had a twin sister, Joy. She studied marketing at San Diego State University, and graduated from SDSU in 1968.[2]

A Republican, Bentley was a legislative aide[3] before she served three terms in the California State Assembly, from 1989 to 1993[4] In 1989, she ran in a special election for a state senate seat; her opponent Lucy Killea was denied communion by the Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego, for her pro-choice position on abortion;[5] the story drew national attention, and increased donations for Killea's winning campaign.[6][7][8] In 1991, she ran for a state senate seat again.[9] Also in 1991, she proposed a bill that would directly benefit one of her contributors, Coleman College, by exempting them from state financial oversight.[10] In 1992, her opponent David G. Kelley accused her of taking inappropriate expense reimbursements from the state.[11] She advocated for crime victims,[2] and was a member of the California Board of Prison Terms from 1993 to 2005.[12] After her career in politics ended, she sold real estate in Mission Beach.[1]

Curtis married David Bentley in 1967; they divorced in 1990.[12] She remarried in 1997, to politician Jim Ellis, who died in 2017.[13] She died in 2021, at the age of 76.[13]