In November 1995, he was elected to the Assembly upon the recall of Assembly SpeakerDoris Allen. Baugh served as the Assembly Republican Leader from 1999 until 2000. Term limits forced Baugh out of the Assembly in 2000.
In 2004, Baugh was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County.
In March 2007, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, seeking the GOP nod for president in 2008, announced that Scott Baugh would serve as a member of his California statewide finance committee.
Baugh lives in Huntington Beach with his wife, Wendy, and son, Jackson.