Former assemblymember and Riverside County administrator Brian Nestande dead at 60

Brian Nestande, a former state assemblymember and Riverside County administrator who managed the successful congressional campaign for former Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono and served as his chief of staff, died this week. He was 60.

Friends became concerned about Nestande after he failed to show up Tuesday for an election night party for Republican senatorial candidate Steve Garvey at the JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort and dropped by his Palm Desert home about 2 p.m. Wednesday, said Marc Troast, a spokesperson for the Nestande family.

“They were able to gain access into the house, where they found him deceased,” said Troast, who served as Nestande’s district director in the Assembly from 2013 through 2014.

Nestande served as an assemblymember for the 64th and 42nd Assembly districts from Dec. 1, 2008, through Nov. 30, 2014.

Nestande’s wife, Gina, a Palm Desert City Council member, was out of town Tuesday and not present at the time of her husband’s death, Troast said.

It was unclear how Nestande died. A cause of death is pending an autopsy, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Brian Nestande,” said Assemblymember Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes, who served as Nestande’s campaign manager in 2014, in a statement Thursday.

“Brian Nestande was not just a trusted friend and mentor but a true champion for the community. His pragmatic approach in working with colleagues across the aisle and advocating for good government policies no matter where they came from is something I will take with me throughout my career,” Wallis said.

Riverside County Supervisor Manny Perez said he and Nestande entered the state Assembly together in 2008 representing the Coachella Valley.

Through varying viewpoints, the two formed a companionship that “grew closer with every late evening working to help our state through the Great Recession,” Perez said in a statement Thursday.

“We kept our partnership going, in a true spirit of bipartisanship, working as a team to serve Riverside County and our Fourth District constituents,” Perez said.

He said Nestande will be remembered as a devoted advocate for Riverside County, where he worked from 2015 to 2021 as a deputy chief executive officer of legislation.

“I always appreciated his perspective and, more than anything, my family, including my wife, my parents, my sons, my extended family, will miss his presence,” Perez said.

Nestande graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. His first political job out of college was working on the congressional campaign of Michael Huffington, followed by Bono’s congressional campaign. He served as Bono’s chief of staff in Washington, D.C., until Bono’s death in a skiing accident in 1998, according to Nestande’s website.

Following Bono’s death, Nestande served as Rep. Mary Bono’s chief of staff when she succeeded her late husband in Congress, according to his website.

Nestande grew up in a political family. His father was Bruce Nestande, who served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors for six years and three terms in the state Assembly. He died in 2020 at the age of 82.

Nestande established Nestande and Associates in Palm Desert and was doing government consulting at the time of death, Troast said.

In addition to his wife, Gina, Nestande is survived by a son Hayden, a daughter Sophia; and stepchildren Sadie, Tad, Mason, Molly and Savana.

Funeral services are pending.

Source: Orange County Register