# First ladies and partners of California

The first lady of California or first partner of California is the spouse of the governor of California. The role of the spouse of the governor of California has never been codified or officially defined. The spouse figures prominently in the social life of the state, and some spouses have been assisted with a staff in the Executive Office of the Governor. As of 2023, all the state's governors have been men, and not all of them were married while in office.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the current spouse of the governor of California concurrent with the governor's term in office. Her predecessors held the informal but accepted title of First Lady but she opted for the title of First Partner. Governor Newton Booth wed after he retired from politics, and Washington Bartlett was a lifelong bachelor. Jerry Brown was a bachelor throughout his initial gubernatorial service but was married when he once again became governor decades later.
Prior to entering politics, Jane Stanford joined her husband Leland Stanford to help him run a mercantile business in San Francisco. The couple co-founded Stanford University. Bernice Layne Brown, wife of Governor Pat Brown, was also the mother of Governor Jerry Brown. Nancy Reagan was a career actress before her husband Ronald Reagan was first elected governor, and then President of the United States.
There are five living former first ladies: Gloria Deukmejian, widow of George Deukmejian; Gayle Wilson, wife of Pete Wilson; Sharon Davis, wife of Gray Davis; Maria Shriver, ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Anne Gust Brown, wife of Jerry Brown.

## List of first ladies and partners of California

Spouses of the governors of California :
| Name | Birth–Death | Term | Governor | Notes |
| Harriet Burnett | (1812–1879) | 1849–1851 | Peter Hardeman Burnett | Born in Wilson County, Tennessee and raised in the Methodist faith. Married August 20, 1828, Governor Burnett credited her with being instrumental in his lifetime achievements. Children Dwight, Martha Letitia, Romeetta, John, Armstead and Sallie |
| Jane McDougal | (1824–1862) | 1851–1852 | John McDougal | Born in Indiana, disliked California and returned to Indiana until 1852. Kept a diary of her ocean voyage. Children Sue, Caroline, Latham, William, Lillie. Died in childbirth. |
| Elizabeth Bigler | (c.1809–1873) | 1852–1856 | John Bigler | Born in New York. Outlived both her husband and daughter Virginia. |
| Mary Zabriskie Johnson | (1830–1887) | 1856–1858 | J. Neely Johnson | Born in New Jersey. Hosted California's first gubernatorial inaugural ball. Children William and Bessie . Outlived her husband and remarried to Colonel Sylvester H. Day. |
| Lizzie Weller | (1828–1885) | 1858–1860 | John B. Weller | Born in New York. The Governor had been married three times before Lizzie, and she had a previous marriage. Children Charles and Josiah, stepsons John and William. |
| Sophie Latham | (1835–1867) | 1860–1860 | Milton Latham | Born in New York. No children. Her husband was only Governor for 5 days before becoming United States Senator. |
| Maria Downey | (1836–1883) | 1860–1862 | John G. Downey | First California-born gubernatorial spouse, and the first one of Mexican heritage. Her father Don Rafael Guirado was from Guaymas, Mexico. Maria and John Downey had no children. |
| Jane Stanford | (1828–1905) | 1862–1863 | Leland Stanford | Born in New York. One son Leland Stanford Jr. died at age 15 of typhoid fever. She and her husband founded Stanford University to honor their son's life. Her death in Honolulu, via strychnine poisoning, is believed to have been murder. |
| Mollie Low | (1840–1910) | 1863–1867 | Frederick Low | Born in Ohio. Daughter Flora. Fashion-conscious society hostess. |
| Anna Haight | (1834–1898) | 1867–1871 | Henry Huntly Haight | Born in Missouri. Children Janette, Mary, Dugald, Henry H. Jr. and Louis. |
| Vacant | | 1871–1875 | Newton Booth | Booth was unmarried while serving as Governor. |
| Mary Catherine McIntire Pacheco | (1842–1913) | 1875–1875 | Romualdo Pacheco | Born in Indiana. She was also a playwright. Children Romualdo and Maybella. So far, her husband has been the only Governor of Latino heritage in the state's history. |
| Amelia Irwin | (1843–1905) | 1875–1880 | William Irwin | Born in New York. One daughter Emma. |
| Ruth Amelia Perkins | (1843–1921) | 1880–1883 | George Clement Perkins | Born in Ireland. Children Fannie, George, Susan, Fred, Milton, Ruth, and Grace. |
| Mary Stoneman | (c.1836–1915) | 1883–1887 | George Stoneman | Born in Maryland. Children: Cornelius, George Jr., Katherine, and Adele |
| Vacant | | 1887–1887 | Washington Bartlett | Bartlett never married; died 9 months after taking office. |
| Jane Waterman | (1829–1914) | 1887–1891 | Robert Waterman | Born in Canada. Active in charity work. Children: Mary, James, Helen, Waldo, Anna and Abby |
| Mary Markham | (1853–1934) | 1891–1895 | Henry Markham | Born in Illinois, raised in Wisconsin, active in the Congregational Church after they moved to Pasadena, California. Children: Marie, Alice, Gertrude, Genevieve and Hildreth. Genevieve died shortly after Governor Markham took office. |
| Inez Budd | (1851–1911) | 1895–1899 | James Budd | Born in Connecticut, her family relocated to Stockton, California where she met her husband James. |
| Fannie Gage | (1863–1951) | 1899–1903 | Henry Gage | Born in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Children Fanita, Lucilla, Francis, Volney and Arthur. |
| Helen Pardee | (1857–1947) | 1903–1907 | George Pardee | Born in Massachusetts. A graduate of what is now San Jose State University, she spent a decade teaching in Oakland. Daughters Florence, Carol, Madeline and Helen. |
| Isabella Gillett | (c.1870–1946) | 1907–1911 | James Gillett | Born in San Francisco. Socialite and musician, she married widower James Gillett and became stepmother to his three children. Together, they had four more children Effie, Ethel, Horace and James. |
| Minnie Johnson | (1869–1955) | 1911–1917 | Hiram Johnson | Born in Sacramento. Sons Hiram and Archibald . |
| Flora Stephens | (1869–1931) | 1917–1923 | William Stephens | Born in Chicago, she attended higher education in California and taught school in Poway, California. Daughter Barbara. |
| Augusta Richardson | (1869–1955) | 1923–1927 | Friend Richardson | Born in Illinois. Children Ruth, Paul and John. |
| Lyla Young | (1880–1967) | 1927–1932 | C. C. Young | Born in Alameda, California. Daughters Barbara and Lucy. The Young family survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. |
| Annie Rolph | (1872–1956) | 1931–1934 | James Rolph | Born in San Francisco. Hosted tea parties in the governor's mansion, open to the general public. Children Annette, James and Georgina . |
| Jessie Merriam | (1869–1948) | 1936–1939 | Frank Merriam | Born in Iowa, married the widowed sitting Governor of California, no children. An advocate of women's issues and health care for the elderly. |
| Kate Olson | (1883–1939) | 1939–1939 | Culbert Olson | Born in Utah. Children Richard, John and Dean . Held all-night poker parties in the governor's mansion. |
| Nina Warren | (1893–1993) | 1943–1953 | Earl Warren | Born in Sweden. Her first husband, Grover Meyers, by whom she had a son James, died in 1920. She married Earl Warren in 1925, and had five children with him: Virginia, Earl Jr., Dorothy, Nina and Robert. She enjoyed being a hostess for her husband. |
| Virginia Knight | (1918–2010) | 1954–1959 | Goodwin Knight | Born in Iowa. A World War II military widow, she married the widowed Governor Knight at the end of his first term. |
| Bernice Layne Brown | (1908–2002) | 1959–1967 | Pat Brown | Born in San Francisco. Also mother of Governor Jerry Brown and State Treasurer Kathleen Brown. |
| Nancy Reagan | (1921–2016) | 1967–1975 | Ronald Reagan | Born in New York. National League of Families of American POW-MIA received 100% of her salary from writing a syndicated column as spouse of the governor. |
| Vacant | | 1975–1983 | Jerry Brown | Brown was unmarried during this first tenure as Governor. |
| Gloria Deukmejian | (b. 1933) | 1983–1991 | George Deukmejian | Born in Long Beach, California. Children: Leslie, Andrea and George. Advocate for community volunteerism. |
| Gayle Wilson | (b. 1942) | 1991–1999 | Pete Wilson | Born in Phoenix, Arizona. Sons Todd and Phillip from a previous marriage. |
| Sharon Davis | (b. 1954) | 1999–2003 | Gray Davis | Born in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Met her husband when she was a flight attendant. Wrote the book The Adventures of Capitol Kitty about a real-life black cat cared for by employees of the State Capitol building in Sacramento. Proceeds of the book went to the Governor's Book Fund, set up by Sharon Davis to benefit school libraries. |
| Maria Shriver | (b. 1955) | 2003–2011 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | Born in Illinois. Journalist, founder of The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement to inform and find a cure for the disease |
| Anne Gust | (b. 1958) | 2011–2019 | Jerry Brown | Born in Michigan. Business executive, attorney |
| Jennifer Siebel Newsom | (b. 1974) | 2019–present | Gavin Newsom | Born in San Francisco. Documentary filmmaker and actress. Under Newsom, the office of First Lady is officially retitled as First Partner. |