Melissa Sellers Stone is the CEO of Cavalry Strategies, a company she founded in 2016. Melissa most recently served as the General Consultant to Jimmy Patronis in his successful run for Congress in a special election in Florida in 2025 for the CD-1 seat to replace Matt Gaetz. She also served as the General Consultant for Patronis in 2018 and 2022, overseeing his two statewide election wins to become Florida’s Chief Financial Officer. 

Previously, she ran the New Republican Super PAC supporting Governor Rick Scott in his 2018 U.S. Senate race. Melissa is former Chief of Staff to Florida Governor Rick Scott as well as the Campaign Manager for his 2014 gubernatorial campaign (won by less than one half of one percentage point). She was also Scott’s Communications Director in the Governor’s Office before that.

Melissa was the Director of Regional Media for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, and a former Communications Director for Governor Bobby Jindal in Louisiana during his first term in office (2008-2011) after serving as the communications director for his 2007 campaign for Governor of Louisiana. Before that, Melissa served as a Regional Media Coordinator for the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign, Press Secretary for Congressman Jim Nussle (IA) in 2005, and Press Secretary for Michael Steele for U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2006. Melissa also worked for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign in the press office, and before that was a press intern to Texas Governor Rick Perry. 

Melissa is a native of Texas and received her Bachelor’s of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida with her husband and two sons.