List of Governors of California

Last updated April 18, 2019

The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced. The governor is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.

The Governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The California Governor is the chief executive of the state government and the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Military Reserve.

The government of California is the governmental structure of the state of California as established by the California Constitution. It is composed of three branches: the executive, consisting of the Governor of California and the other constitutionally elected and appointed officers and offices; the legislative, consisting of the California State Legislature, which includes the Assembly and the Senate; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. There is also local government, consisting of counties, cities, special districts, and school districts, as well as government entities and offices that operate independently on a constitutional, statutory, or common law basis. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall and ratification.

The State of the State Address is a speech customarily given once each year by the governors of each of the states of the United States. The speech is customarily delivered before both houses of the state legislature sitting in joint session, with the exception of the Nebraska Legislature, which is a unicameral body. The speech is given to satisfy a constitutional stipulation that a governor must report annually, or in older constitutions described as being "from time to time", on the state or condition of a U.S. state.

Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician and businessman. He is the 40th governor of California, serving since January 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. He was sworn in as Governor of California on January 7, 2019.

Thirty-nine people have served as governor, over 40 distinct terms; many have been influential nationwide in areas far-flung from politics. Leland Stanford founded Stanford University in 1891. Earl Warren, later Chief Justice of the United States, won an election with the nominations of the three major parties – the only person ever to run essentially unopposed for governor of California. Ronald Reagan, who was president of the Screen Actors Guild and later President of the United States, and Arnold Schwarzenegger both came to prominence through acting. Gray Davis, the 37th governor of California, was the second governor in American history to be recalled by voters. The shortest tenure was that of Milton Latham, who served only five days before being elected by the legislature to fill a vacant United States Senate seat. The longest tenure is that of Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr., who previously served as governor from 1975 to 1983 and again from 2011 to 2019. He is the son of former governor Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. who served from 1959 to 1967.

Amasa Leland Stanford was an American tycoon, industrialist, politician, and the founder of Stanford University. Migrating to California from New York at the time of the Gold Rush, he became a successful merchant and wholesaler, and continued to build his business empire. He spent one two-year term as Governor of California after his election in 1861, and later eight years as a United States Senator. As president of Southern Pacific Railroad and, beginning in 1861, Central Pacific, he had tremendous power in the region and a lasting impact on California. He is widely considered a robber baron.

Leland Stanford Junior University is a private research university in Stanford, California. Stanford is known for its academic strength, wealth, proximity to Silicon Valley, and ranking as one of the world's top universities.

Earl Warren was an American jurist and politician who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States (1953–1969) and earlier as the 30th Governor of California (1943–1953). The Warren Court presided over a major shift in constitutional jurisprudence, with Warren writing the majority opinions in landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, Reynolds v. Sims, and Miranda v. Arizona. Warren also led the Warren Commission, a presidential commission that investigated the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He is as of 2019 the last Chief Justice to have served in an elected office.

Governors

For the governors prior to statehood, see the List of Governors of California before admission.

California was obtained by the United States in the Mexican Cession following the Mexican–American War. Unlike most other states, it was never organized as a territory, and was admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

The Mexican Cession is the region in the modern-day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. This region had not been part of the areas east of the Rio Grande which had been claimed by the Republic of Texas, though the Texas annexation resolution two years earlier had not specified the southern and western boundary of the new State of Texas. The Mexican Cession was the third largest acquisition of territory in US history. The largest was the Louisiana Purchase, with some 827,000 sq. miles, followed by the acquisition of Alaska.

Mexican–American War Armed conflict between the United States of America and Mexico from 1846 to 1848

The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the Intervención estadounidense en México, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the Second Federal Republic of Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 American annexation of the Republic of Texas, not formally recognized by the Mexican government, disputing the Treaties of Velasco signed by the unstable Mexican caudillo President/General Antonio López de Santa Anna after the Texas Revolution a decade earlier. In 1845, newly elected U.S. President James K. Polk, who saw the annexation of Texas as the first step towards a further expansion of the United States, sent troops to the disputed area and a diplomatic mission to Mexico. After Mexican forces attacked American forces, Polk cited this in his request that Congress declare war.

The original California Constitution of 1849 called for elections every two years, with no set start date for the term. An amendment ratified in 1862 increased the term to four years,^[1] and the 1879 constitution set the term to begin on the first Monday after January 1 following an election.^{[lower-alpha 1]} In 1990, Proposition 140 led to a constitutional amendment^[2] implementing a term limit of two terms;^[3] prior to this limit, only one governor, Earl Warren, served more than two terms. Jerry Brown was able to be elected to a third term in 2010 because his previous terms were before the term limit was enacted. The 1849 constitution also created the office of lieutenant governor, who, in cases of vacancy in the office of governor, becomes governor.^[4] The governor and lieutenant governor are not elected on the same ticket.

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". This is intended to protect a democracy from becoming a de facto dictatorship. Sometimes, there is an absolute or lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve; sometimes, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms he or she may serve.

Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. is an American politician who served as the 34th and 39th Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Brown served as California Attorney General from 2007 to 2011. He was both the oldest and sixth-youngest Governor of California as a consequence of the 28-year gap between his second and third terms.

The Lieutenant Governor of California is a statewide constitutional officer and vice-executive of the U.S. state of California. The lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-year term and can serve a maximum of two terms. In addition to basically ceremonial roles, serving as acting governor in the absence of the Governor of California and as President of the California State Senate, the lieutenant governor either sits on many of California's regulatory commissions and executive agencies.

Governors of the State of California^{[lower-alpha 2]}
No.		Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor ^{[lower-alpha 3]}
1	Peter Hardeman Burnett	December 20, 1849^{[lower-alpha 4]} – January 9, 1851 (resigned)^{[lower-alpha 5]}	Democratic	1849		John McDougal
2	John McDougal	January 9, 1851 – January 8, 1852 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		David C. Broderick (acting)
3	John Bigler	January 8, 1852 – January 9, 1856 (lost election)	Democratic	1851		Samuel Purdy
3	John Bigler	January 8, 1852 – January 9, 1856 (lost election)	Democratic	1853		Samuel Purdy
4	J. Neely Johnson	January 9, 1856 – January 8, 1858 (not candidate for election)	American	1855		Robert M. Anderson
5	John B. Weller	January 8, 1858 – January 9, 1860 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1857		Joseph Walkup
6	Milton Latham	January 9, 1860 – January 14, 1860 (resigned)^{[lower-alpha 6]}	Democratic	1859		John G. Downey
7	John G. Downey	January 14, 1860 – January 10, 1862 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Isaac N. Quinn (acting) (term ended January 7, 1861)
7	John G. Downey		Democratic	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Pablo de la Guerra (acting)
8	Leland Stanford	January 10, 1862 – December 10, 1863 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1861		John F. Chellis
9	Frederick Low	December 10, 1863 – December 5, 1867 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1863 ^{[lower-alpha 7]}		Tim N. Machin
10	Henry Huntly Haight	December 5, 1867 – December 8, 1871 (lost election)	Democratic	1867		William Holden
11	Newton Booth	December 8, 1871 – February 27, 1875 (resigned)^{[lower-alpha 8]}	Republican	1871		Romualdo Pacheco
12	Romualdo Pacheco	February 27, 1875 – December 9, 1875 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		William Irwin (acting)
13	William Irwin	December 9, 1875 – January 8, 1880 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1875		James A. Johnson
14	George Clement Perkins	January 8, 1880 – January 10, 1883 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1879		John Mansfield
15	George Stoneman	January 10, 1883 – January 8, 1887 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1882		John Daggett
16	Washington Bartlett	January 8, 1887 – September 12, 1887 (died in office)	Democratic	1886		Robert Waterman ^{[lower-alpha 9]}
17	Robert Waterman	September 12, 1887 – January 8, 1891 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Stephen M. White ^{[lower-alpha 10]} (acting)
18	Henry Markham	January 8, 1891 – January 11, 1895 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1890		John B. Reddick
19	James Budd	January 11, 1895 – January 4, 1899 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1894		Spencer G. Millard ^{[lower-alpha 9]} (died October 24, 1895)
19	James Budd		Democratic	1894		William T. Jeter
20	Henry Gage	January 4, 1899 – January 7, 1903 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1898		Jacob H. Neff
21	George Pardee	January 7, 1903 – January 9, 1907 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1902		Alden Anderson
22	James Gillett	January 9, 1907 – January 3, 1911 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1906		Warren R. Porter
23	Hiram Johnson	January 3, 1911 – March 15, 1917 (resigned)^{[lower-alpha 11]}	Republican	1910		Albert Joseph Wallace
			Progressive	1914		John M. Eshleman (died February 28, 1916)
					Vacant
						William Stephens ^{[lower-alpha 9]} (took office July 22, 1916)
24	William Stephens	March 15, 1917 – January 8, 1923 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
24	William Stephens		Republican	1918		C. C. Young
25	Friend Richardson	January 8, 1923 – January 4, 1927 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1922		C. C. Young
26	C. C. Young	January 4, 1927 – January 6, 1931 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1926		Buron Fitts (resigned November 30, 1928)
					Vacant
						Herschel L. Carnahan (appointed December 4, 1928)
27	James Rolph	January 6, 1931 – June 2, 1934 (died in office)	Republican	1930		Frank Merriam
28	Frank Merriam	June 2, 1934 – January 2, 1939 (lost election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant
28	Frank Merriam	June 2, 1934 – January 2, 1939 (lost election)	Republican	1934		George J. Hatfield
29	Culbert Olson	January 2, 1939 – January 4, 1943 (lost election)	Democratic	1938		Ellis E. Patterson
30	Earl Warren	January 4, 1943 – October 5, 1953 (resigned)^{[lower-alpha 12]}	Republican ^{[lower-alpha 13]}	1942		Frederick F. Houser
				1946		Goodwin Knight
				1950		Goodwin Knight
31	Goodwin Knight	October 5, 1953 – January 5, 1959 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Harold J. Powers
31	Goodwin Knight		Republican	1954		Harold J. Powers
32	Pat Brown	January 5, 1959 – January 2, 1967 (lost election)	Democratic	1958		Glenn M. Anderson
32	Pat Brown	January 5, 1959 – January 2, 1967 (lost election)	Democratic	1962		Glenn M. Anderson
33	Ronald Reagan	January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1966		Robert Finch (resigned January 8, 1969)
				1966		Edwin Reinecke (resigned October 2, 1974)
				1970		Edwin Reinecke (resigned October 2, 1974)
				1970		John L. Harmer
34	Jerry Brown	January 6, 1975 – January 3, 1983 (not candidate for election)	Democratic	1974		Mervyn M. Dymally
34	Jerry Brown		Democratic	1978		Michael Curb ^{[lower-alpha 9]}
35	George Deukmejian	January 3, 1983 – January 7, 1991 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1982		Leo T. McCarthy ^{[lower-alpha 10]}
35	George Deukmejian		Republican	1986
36	Pete Wilson	January 7, 1991 – January 4, 1999 (term limited)	Republican	1990
36	Pete Wilson	January 7, 1991 – January 4, 1999 (term limited)	Republican	1994		Gray Davis ^{[lower-alpha 10]}
37	Gray Davis	January 4, 1999 – November 17, 2003 (recalled)^{[lower-alpha 14]}	Democratic	1998		Cruz Bustamante ^{[lower-alpha 10]}
37	Gray Davis		Democratic	2002
38	Arnold Schwarzenegger	November 17, 2003 – January 3, 2011 (term limited)	Republican	2003 (special)^{[lower-alpha 14]}
				2006		John Garamendi ^{[lower-alpha 10]} (resigned November 3, 2009)
						Mona Pasquil ^{[lower-alpha 10]} (acting)
						Abel Maldonado ^{[lower-alpha 9]}^{[lower-alpha 15]} (appointed April 27, 2010)
39	Jerry Brown	January 3, 2011 – January 7, 2019 (term limited)	Democratic	2010
				2010		Gavin Newsom ^{[lower-alpha 15]} (took office January 10, 2011)
				2014
40	Gavin Newsom	January 7, 2019 – present^{[lower-alpha 16]}	Democratic	2018		Eleni Kounalakis

Notes

↑ The rule of the term beginning on the first Monday after January 1 does not seem to have been followed until 1939; all terms between 1880 and 1931, except for 1923, began on the "wrong" day, often just one or two days off. This is well-sourced, and it is unknown why the terms did not match the constitution, or why they began to match the constitution in 1939.
↑ Data is sourced from the National Governors Association, unless supplemental references are required.
↑ Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
↑ A civilian government was formed in late 1849 prior to official statehood, and operated as the state government for ten months before official statehood was granted.^[5]
↑ Burnett resigned, citing personal reasons; he was reportedly unhappy with the legislature, and wanted more time to manage his business.^[6]
↑ Latham resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[7]
↑ First term under an 1862 constitutional amendment, which lengthened terms to four years.
↑ Booth resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[8]
1 2 3 4 5 Represented the Republican Party.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Represented the Democratic Party.
↑ Johnson resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[9]
↑ Warren resigned to be Chief Justice of the United States.^[10]
↑ Warren ran as a Republican for his first and third terms. For his second term, he won the nomination of the Republican, Democratic, and Progressive parties.^[11]
1 2 Davis was recalled and Schwarzenegger elected to replace him in a special election.^[12]
1 2 Newsom delayed his swearing in as lieutenant governor until January 10, 2011, to remain mayor of San Francisco; Maldonado stayed on as lieutenant governor until then.^[13]
↑ Newsom's first term expires on January 2, 2023.

References

General

"Governors of California". California State Library. Official Site of the State of California. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2007.
"California: Past Governors Bios". National Governors Association . Retrieved September 6, 2015.
"Chronology of California's Lieutenant Governors". Office of the Lieutenant Governor. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
JoinCalifornia.com - Dates of birth and death for Governors

Constitutions

"Constitution of the State of California". Legislative Counsel of California. 1879. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
"Constitution of the State of California". California Secretary of State. 1849. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2010.

Specific

↑ Henning, W.F. (1899). Constitution of the State of California. C.W. Palm Company. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
↑ "California Ballot Propositions 1990-1999". Los Angeles County Law Library. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
↑ CA Const. art. V, § 2
↑ CA Const. art. V, § 10
↑ "Peter Hardeman Burnett". National Governors Association . Retrieved September 6, 2015.
↑ Durham, Walter T. (1997). Volunteer Forty-niners: Tennesseans and the California Gold Rush. Vanderbilt University Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-8265-1298-4 . Retrieved August 4, 2010.
↑ "Milton Slocum Latham". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.
↑ "Newton Booth". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.
↑ "Hiram Warren Johnson". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.
↑ "Earl Warren". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.
↑ "Biography of Earl Warren". Earl Warren College . Retrieved December 13, 2018.
↑ "Statewide Special Election". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
↑ Upton Oot, John (January 7, 2011). "Newsom's Dual Role Raises Legal Quandary". The Bay Citizen . Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2015.

External links

Office of the Governor of California

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[2] The rule of the term beginning on the first Monday after January 1 does not seem to have been followed until 1939; all terms between 1880 and 1931, except for 1923, began on the "wrong" day, often just one or two days off. This is well-sourced, and it is unknown why the terms did not match the constitution, or why they began to match the constitution in 1939.

[6] Data is sourced from the National Governors Association, unless supplemental references are required.

[7] Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.

[9] A civilian government was formed in late 1849 prior to official statehood, and operated as the state government for ten months before official statehood was granted.^[5]

[11] Burnett resigned, citing personal reasons; he was reportedly unhappy with the legislature, and wanted more time to manage his business.^[6]

[13] Latham resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[7]

[14] First term under an 1862 constitutional amendment, which lengthened terms to four years.

[16] Booth resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[8]

[lt-rep-17] 1 2 3 4 5 Represented the Republican Party.

[lt-dem-18] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Represented the Democratic Party.

[20] Johnson resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.^[9]

[22] Warren resigned to be Chief Justice of the United States.^[10]

[24] Warren ran as a Republican for his first and third terms. For his second term, he won the nomination of the Republican, Democratic, and Progressive parties.^[11]

[elect-2003-26] 1 2 Davis was recalled and Schwarzenegger elected to replace him in a special election.^[12]

[newsom-27] 1 2 Newsom delayed his swearing in as lieutenant governor until January 10, 2011, to remain mayor of San Francisco; Maldonado stayed on as lieutenant governor until then.^[13]

[29] Newsom's first term expires on January 2, 2023.

[1] Henning, W.F. (1899). Constitution of the State of California. C.W. Palm Company. Retrieved January 18, 2008.

[3] "California Ballot Propositions 1990-1999". Los Angeles County Law Library. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.

[4] CA Const. art. V, § 2

[5] CA Const. art. V, § 10

[8] "Peter Hardeman Burnett". National Governors Association . Retrieved September 6, 2015.

[10] Durham, Walter T. (1997). Volunteer Forty-niners: Tennesseans and the California Gold Rush. Vanderbilt University Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-8265-1298-4 . Retrieved August 4, 2010.

[nga-latham-12] "Milton Slocum Latham". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.

[nga-booth-15] "Newton Booth". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.

[nga-johnson-19] "Hiram Warren Johnson". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.

[nga-warren-21] "Earl Warren". National Governors Association . Retrieved December 13, 2018.

[23] "Biography of Earl Warren". Earl Warren College . Retrieved December 13, 2018.

[25] "Statewide Special Election". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2008.

[28] Upton Oot, John (January 7, 2011). "Newsom's Dual Role Raises Legal Quandary". The Bay Citizen . Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2015.

v t e Governors of California
Under Spain (1769–1822)	Capt. Portolá Col. Fages Capt. Rivera Capt-Gen. de Neve Col. Fages Capt. Roméu Capt. Arrillaga Col. Bórica Lt. Col. Alberní Capt. Arrillaga Capt. J. Argüello Don Solá
Under Mexico (1822–1846)	Capt. L. Argüello Lt. Col. Echeandía Gen. Victoria Don P. Pico Lt. Col. Echeandía Brig. Gen. Figueroa Lt. Col. Castro Lt. Col. Gutiérrez Col. Chico Lt. Col. Gutiérrez Pres. Alvarado · Uncle Carrillo (rival) Brig. Gen. Micheltorena Don P. Pico
Under U.S. military (1846–1850)	Cdre. Sloat Cdre. Stockton · Gen. Flores (rival) Gen. Kearny · Maj. Frémont (mutineer) Gen. Mason Gen. Smith Gen. Riley
Pre-statehood (1849–1850)	Burnett
U.S. state (since 1850)	Burnett McDougal Bigler J. Johnson Weller Latham Downey Stanford Low Haight Booth Pacheco Irwin Perkins Stoneman Bartlett Waterman Markham Budd Gage Pardee Gillett H. Johnson Stephens Richardson Young Rolph Merriam Olson Warren Knight P. Brown Reagan J. Brown Deukmejian Wilson Davis Schwarzenegger J. Brown Newsom
Before 1850 Since 1850 By age By education Spouses

v t e Chief executives of the United States
Federal	President of the United States
State governors (current list)	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California list Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii list Idaho Illinois list Indiana list Iowa list Kansas Kentucky list Louisiana Maine list Maryland list Massachusetts Michigan list Minnesota list Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska list Nevada New Hampshire list New Jersey list New Mexico list New York list North Carolina list North Dakota list Ohio Oklahoma list Oregon list Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina list South Dakota list Tennessee list Texas list Utah Vermont list Virginia list Washington West Virginia Wisconsin list Wyoming
Territorial (current list)	American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico list United States Virgin Islands
Defunct	Pre-state territories Panama Canal Zone Cuba Santo Domingo Philippine Islands (until 1935) Philippine Commonwealth (until 1946) Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

List of Governors of California

Contents

Governors

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

References

External links