# Speaker of the California State Assembly

The speaker of the California State Assembly is the presiding officer and highest-ranking member of the California State Assembly, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The speaker is nominated by the majority party's caucus and elected by the full Assembly typically at the beginning of each two year session. Meanwhile, other floor leaders, such as the majority leader and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber. The current speaker is Democrat Robert Rivas of the 29th district.
The speaker formerly had far more power, and was able to issue committee assignments to both parties' members, control State Assembly funds, and had broad administrative authority, but many of these powers were transferred to committee chairs after the speakership of Curt Pringle.
The speaker of the Assembly is also third in the order of succession to the governor of California, after the lieutenant governor and the president pro tempore of the California State Senate.

## List of speakers

The following is a list of speakers of the California State Assembly. It does not number those individuals who served abbreviated terms or those who served during an extraordinary session called by the governor of California for a narrowly defined agenda.
| Speaker | District | Party | Term of service |
| 1. Thomas J. White | Sacramento | Unaffiliated | December 1849–February 1850 |
| 2. John Bigler | 12 | Democratic | February 1850–May 1851 |
| 3. Richard P. Hammond | 7 | Democratic | January 1852–May 1852 |
| 4. Isaac B. Wall | 6 | Democratic | January 1853–May 1853 |
| 5. Charles S. Fairfax | 15 | Democratic | January 1854–May 1854 |
| 6. William W. Stow | 3 | Whig | January 1855–May 1855 |
| 7. James T. Farley | 19 | American | January 1856–April 1856 |
| 8. Elwood T. Beatty | 19 | Democratic | January 1857–April 1857 |
| 9. Ninian E. Whiteside | 15 | Democratic | January 1858–April 1858 |
| 10. William C. Stratton | 17 | Democratic | January 1859–April 1859 |
| 11. Phillip Moore | 16 | Democratic | January 1860–April 1860 |
| 12. Ransom Burnell | 19 | Douglas Democratic | January 1861–May 1861 |
| 13. George Barstow | 8 | Republican | January 1862–May 1862 |
| 14. Tim N. Machin | 12 | National Union | January 1863–April 1863 |
| 15. William H. Sears | 21 | National Union | December 1863–April 1864 |
| 16. John Yule | 20 | National Union | December 1865–April 1866 |
| 17. Caius T. Ryland | 7 | Democratic | December 1867–March 1868 |
| 18. George H. Rogers | 8 | Democratic | December 1869–April 1870 |
| 19. Thomas Bowles Shannon | 8 | Republican | December 1871–April 1872 |
| 20. Morris M. Estee | 8 | Independent | December 1873–March 1874 |
| 21. Gideon J. Carpenter | 23 | Democratic | December 1875–April 1876 |
| 22. Campbell Polson Berry | 25 | Democratic | December 1877–April 1878 |
| 23. Jabez F. Cowdery | 13 | Republican | January 1880–April 1880 |
| 24. William H. Parks | 25 | Republican | January 1881–May 1881 |
| 25. Hugh McElroy LaRue | 18 | Democratic | January 1883–May 1884 |
| – William H. Parks | 25 | Republican | January 1885–September 1886 |
| 26. William H. Jordan | 55 | Republican | January 1887–March 1887 |
| 27. Robert Howe | 25 | Democratic | January 1889–March 1889 |
| 28. Frank Leslie Coombs | 22 | Republican | January 1891–March 1891 |
| 29. Frank H. Gould | 57 | Democratic | January 1893–March 1893 |
| 30. John C. Lynch | 8 | Republican | January 1895–March 1895 |
| – Frank Leslie Coombs | 18 | Republican | January 1897–March 1897 |
| 31. Howard E. Wright | 51 | Republican | January 1899 |
| 32. Alden Anderson | 19 | Republican | January 1899–February 1900 |
| 33. Cornelius W. Pendleton | 74 | Republican | January 1901–March 1901 |
| 34. Arthur G. Fisk | 37 | Republican | January 1903–March 1903 |
| 35. Frank C. Prescott | 76 | Republican | January 1905–June 1906 |
| 36. Robert L. Beardslee Sr. | 23 | Republican | January 1907–November 1909 |
| 37. Phillip A. Stanton | 71 | Republican | January 1909–October 1910 |
| 38. Arthur Hathaway Hewitt | 8 | Republican | January 1911–December 1911 |
| 39. C. C. Young | 41 | Republican, Progressive | January 1913–April 1917 |
| 40. Henry W. Wright | 69 | Republican | January 1919–April 1921 |
| 41. Frank F. Merriam | 70 | Republican | January 1923–October 1926 |
| 42. Edgar C. Levey | 28 | Republican | January 1927–May 1931 |
| 43. Walter J. Little | 60 | Republican | January 1933–July 1933 |
| 44. Forsythe Charles Clowdsley | 11 | Democratic | September 1934 (extraordinary session) |
| 45. Edward Craig | 75 | Republican | January 1935–May 1936 |
| 46. William Moseley Jones | 51 | Democratic | January 1937–March 1938 |
| 47. Paul Peek | 71 | Democratic | January 1939–June 1939 |
| 48. Gordon Hickman Garland | 38 | Democratic | January 1940–January 1942 |
| 49. Charles W. Lyon | 59 | Republican | January 1943–July 1946 |
| 50. Sam L. Collins | 75 | Republican | January 1947–August 1952 |
| 51. James W. Silliman | 34 | Republican | January 1953–April 1954 |
| 52. Luther H. Lincoln | 15 | Republican | January 1955–April 1958 |
| 53. Ralph M. Brown | 30 | Democratic | January 1959–September 1961 |
| 54. Jesse M. Unruh | 65 | Democratic | September 1961–January 1969 |
| 55. Robert T. Monagan | 12 | Republican | January 1969–September 1970 |
| 56. Bob Moretti | 42 | Democratic | January 1971–June 1974 |
| 57. Leo T. McCarthy | 19/18 | Democratic | June 1974–November 1980 |
| 58. Willie Brown | 17/13 | Democratic | December 2, 1980 – June 5, 1995 |
| 59. Doris Allen | 67 | Republican | June 5, 1995 – September 14, 1995 |
| 60. Brian Setencich | 30 | Republican | September 14, 1995 – January 4, 1996 |
| 61. Curt Pringle | 68 | Republican | January 4, 1996 – November 30, 1996 |
| 62. Cruz M. Bustamante | 31 | Democratic | December 2, 1996 – February 26, 1998 |
| 63. Antonio Villaraigosa | 45 | Democratic | February 26, 1998 – April 13, 2000 |
| 64. Robert M. Hertzberg | 40 | Democratic | April 13, 2000 – February 6, 2002 |
| 65. Herb J. Wesson, Jr. | 47 | Democratic | February 6, 2002 – February 9, 2004 |
| 66. Fabian Núñez | 46 | Democratic | February 9, 2004 – May 13, 2008 |
| 67. Karen Bass | 47 | Democratic | May 13, 2008 – March 1, 2010 |
| 68. John Pérez | 46/53 | Democratic | March 1, 2010 – May 12, 2014 |
| 69. Toni Atkins | 78 | Democratic | May 12, 2014 – March 7, 2016 |
| 70. Anthony Rendon | 63 | Democratic | March 7, 2016–June 30, 2023 |
| 71. Robert Rivas | 29 | Democratic | June 30, 2023-present |
* ^1 The First California Legislature was nonpartisan.
* ^2 Estee was also a Republican, but he was elected to the term in which he was Speaker as an independent.
* ^3 Young was elected as a Republican during the 40th and 42nd sessions (1913 and 1917), but a Progressive during the 41st session (1915).
* ^4 McCarthy's 19th District was renumbered the 18th District after the 1970s redistricting.
* ^5 Brown's 17th District was renumbered the 13th District after the 1990s redistricting.
* ^6 Allen and Setencich were Republican Assemblymembers whom Democrats elected after losing their majority in the chamber.
* ^7 Perez's 46th District was renumbered the 53rd District after the 2010s redistricting.