Joseph W. Jourdan served in the California legislature in 1875-76 [1] and was born in Australia. [2]
California is a state in the Western United States, lying on the American Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With nearly 39 million residents across an area of 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state, the third-largest by area, and most populated subnational entity in North America.
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California. With an estimated 3,820,914 residents within the city limits as of 2023, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, behind only New York City; it is also the commercial, financial and cultural center of Southern California. Los Angeles has an ethnically and culturally diverse population, and is the principal city of a metropolitan area of 12.8 million people (2023). Greater Los Angeles, which includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.3 million residents.
San Diego is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.3 million residents, it is the eighth-most populous city in the United States and the second-most populous in the state of California, after Los Angeles. San Diego is the seat of San Diego County, which has a population of nearly 3.3 million people. It is known for its mild year-round Mediterranean climate, extensive beaches and parks, long association with the United States Navy, and its recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.
The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley, it is the state's first land-grant university and is the founding campus of the University of California system.
The University of California, Davis is a public land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institution was first founded as an agricultural branch of the system in 1905, known as the University Farm, and became the sixth campus of the University of California in 1959.
The University of Southern California is a private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in California, and has an enrollment of more than 49,000 students.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center within Northern California. With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, and the 17th most populous in the US. It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind four of New York City's boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over 9 million.
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily in Nevada. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges that forms the western "backbone" of the Americas.
San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2022 population of 971,233, it is the most populous city in both the Bay Area and the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area—which in 2022 had a population of 7.5 million and 9.0 million respectively—the third-most populous city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of 179.97 sq mi (466.1 km2). San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County and the main component of the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara Metropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated population of around two million residents in 2018.
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of NCAA football competition. The conference currently comprises two members, Oregon State and Washington State.
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individual U.S. states. Comprising 88 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas within a total area of 4,083 square miles (10,570 km2), it is home to more than a quarter of Californians and is one of the most ethnically diverse U.S. counties. The county's seat, Los Angeles, is the second most populous city in the United States, with 3,820,914 residents estimated in 2023. The county has been world-renowned as the domicile of the U.S. motion picture industry since the latter's inception in the early 20th century.
The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a socialist political party in the United States which operates mostly in California. It was formed in 1966 from anti–Vietnam War and pro–civil rights movements.
Adam Bennett Schiff is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, Schiff served 12 terms in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2024 and was a member of the California State Senate from 1996 to 2000.
Xavier Becerra is an American attorney and politician serving as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services, a position he has held since March 2021. He is the first Latino to hold this position in history. Becerra previously served as the attorney general of California from January 2017 until March 2021. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Downtown Los Angeles in Congress from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Becerra was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus from 2013 to 2017.
The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly and the California State Senate. Both houses of the Legislature convene at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments defines the Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the estuaries of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and Suisun Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco. Other definitions may be either smaller or larger, and may include neighboring counties which are not officially part of the San Francisco Bay Area, such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey, or the Central Valley counties of San Joaquin, Merced, and Stanislaus. The Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, prominent universities, technology companies, and affluence. The Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a complex multimodal transportation network.
The 2020 United States presidential election in California was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. California voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California. In the 2020 election, California had 55 electoral votes in the Electoral College, the most of any state. Biden won by a wide margin, as was expected; however, California was one of six states where Trump received a larger percentage of the two-party vote than he did in 2016. This election also marked the first time since 2004 that the Republican candidate won more than one million votes in Los Angeles County due to increased turnout.
The 2024 United States presidential election in California was held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, as part of the 2024 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. California voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. California has 54 electoral votes in the Electoral College, the most in the country.