Since 1849, California has had 40 governors (35 elected), with a fairly even historical split between parties, though recently dominated by Democrats. Early history saw many Democrats and some third-party members, followed by long periods of Republican leadership (1899–1939, 1967–1975, 1983–1999) and modern Democratic dominance
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California Governors Gallery (.gov) +2 Timeline of California Governors (1849–Present) Democratic : 1849–1856 (Burnett, McDougal, Bigler)American/Know-Nothing : 1856–1858 (J. Neely Johnson)Democratic : 1858–1862 (Weller, Latham, Downey)Republican : 1862–1863 (Leland Stanford)Union/ Republican : 1863–1867 (Frederick Low)Democratic : 1867–1871 (Henry Haight)Republican : 1871–1875 (Newton Booth)Republican /Independent: 1875 (Romualdo Pacheco)Democratic: 1875–1880 (William Irwin)Republican : 1880–1883 (George Perkins)Democratic : 1883–1887 (George Stoneman)Democratic : 1887 (Washington Bartlett)Republican : 1887–1891 (Robert Waterman)Republican : 1891–1895 (Henry Markham)Democratic : 1895–1899 (James Budd)Republican : 1899–1911 (Gage, Pardee, Gillett)Progressive/ Republican : 1911–1917 (Hiram Johnson)Republican : 1917–1939 (Stephens, Richardson, Young, Rolph, Merriam)Democratic : 1939–1943 (Culbert Olson)Republican : 1943–1959 (Earl Warren, Goodwin Knight)Democratic : 1959–1967 (Edmund G. "Pat" Brown)Republican : 1967–1975 (Ronald Reagan)Democratic : 1975–1983 (Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown)Republican : 1983–1999 (George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson)Democratic : 1999–2003 (Gray Davis)Republican : 2003–2011 (Arnold Schwarzenegger)Democratic : 2011–Present (Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom) California Governors Gallery (.gov) +2