List of Governors of California
Governors
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.

List of Governors of California

Section Title: Governors
Table Section Text: 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.

No.	Governor	Term in office	Party	Election	Lt. Governor

1	-	Peter Hardeman Burnett	December 20, 1849 – January 9, 1851 (resigned)	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

1853

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)	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)

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	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)	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

17	-	Robert Waterman	September 12, 1887 – January 8, 1891 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Stephen M. White (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 (died October 24, 1895)

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)	Republican	1910	Albert Joseph Wallace

Progressive	1914	John M. Eshleman (died February 28, 1916)

Vacant

William Stephens (took office July 22, 1916)

24	-	William Stephens	March 15, 1917 – January 8, 1923 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Vacant

1918	C. C. Young

25	-	Friend Richardson	January 8, 1923 – January 4, 1927 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1922

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

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)	Republican	1942	Frederick F. Houser

1946	Goodwin Knight

1950

31	-	Goodwin Knight	October 5, 1953 – January 5, 1959 (not candidate for election)	Republican	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor	Harold J. Powers

1954

32	-	Pat Brown	January 5, 1959 – January 2, 1967 (lost election)	Democratic	1958	Glenn M. Anderson

1962

33	Ronald Reagan with cowboy hat 12-0071M original.tif	Ronald Reagan	January 2, 1967 – January 6, 1975 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1966	Robert Finch (resigned January 8, 1969)

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

1978	Michael Curb

35	-	George Deukmejian	January 3, 1983 – January 7, 1991 (not candidate for election)	Republican	1982	Leo T. McCarthy

1986

36	Pete Wilson meeting with Les Aspin, Feb 3, 1993 - cropped to Wilson.JPEG	Pete Wilson	January 7, 1991 – January 4, 1999 (term limited)	Republican	1990

1994	Gray Davis

37	-	Gray Davis	January 4, 1999 – November 17, 2003 (recalled)	Democratic	1998	Cruz Bustamante

2002

38	-	Arnold Schwarzenegger	November 17, 2003 – January 3, 2011 (term limited)	Republican	2003 (special)

2006	John Garamendi (resigned November 3, 2009)

Mona Pasquil (acting)

Abel Maldonado (appointed April 27, 2010)

39	-	Jerry Brown	January 3, 2011 – January 7, 2019 (term limited)	Democratic	2010

Gavin Newsom (took office January 10, 2011)

2014

40	-	Gavin Newsom	January 7, 2019 – present	Democratic	2018	Eleni Kounalakis

Sentence(s)

A Republican, Gage was elected as the 20th governor of California from 1899 to 1903.

final_sentence: A Republican, Gage was elected as the 20th governor of California from 1899 to 1903.