- Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981-1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967-1975). Reagan was born in Illinois, but moved to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he starred in numerous "B" movies and became President of the Screen Actors Guild. He was a prominent Democrat who supported the New Deal Coalition in the 1940s, and was a leading opponent of Communism in Hollywood.
- Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is currently the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a Senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Senator Feinstein holds a number of "firsts"; she is San Francisco's first and only female mayor, the first woman to serve in the Senate from California, one of two first female Jewish senators, and the first woman to chair the Rules and Administration committee of that body.
- Tom Campbell
Thomas J. (Tom) Campbell (b. August 14, 1952) returned as dean of the Haas School of Business and a professor of business administration at the University of California, Berkeley after a leave of absence to serve as the Director of Finance for the State of California in 2004 and 2005. He previously served five nonconsecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican.
- Michael Jackson
Michael A. Jackson is a satellite project manager who ran as a Republican in the 2003 California recall, primarily getting votes due to sharing his name with that of pop singer Michael Jackson. Jackson garnered 746 votes, placing him 91st out of 135 candidates.
- Phil Angelides
California State Treasurer Phil Angelides has made his mark in the civic life of California as an effective public leader and as a successful and innovative businessman. As Treasurer, Mr. Angelides has worked to create jobs and opportunity for all by investing in California communities. To protect the financial security of the state's families, he has been a leader in the national movement to reform corporate practices that have harmed the economy and shareholders.
- Don Perata
Don Perata (born April 30, 1945) is a California Democratic politician, who is the current President pro tempore of the California State Senate. He was elected to the post of President Pro Tempore in 2004. He will continue his Presidency until the end of the current 2007-2008 session. Perata has a daughter and a son.
- Bill Morrow
William Phillip Morrow (born April 19, 1954) is a U.S. Republican politician from the state of California, who used to be in the California State Senate representing the 38th district which includes northern San Diego County and the cities of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano in southern Orange County.
- John Chiang
John Chiang (born July 31, 1962 in New York City) is a Democratic politician and has been California State Controller since January 8 2007. He previously served as Chair of the California Board of Equalization and represented the Fourth District, primarily serving southern Los Angeles County. Chiang is the son of immigrants from Taiwan. He was born in New York City and grew up in Chicago.
- Bill Campbell
William J. Campbell is a Republican politician from California. A former California State Assembly Republican Leader, he has served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors since 2003 (and was its Chairman from January 4 2005–January 9 2007). Born in Los Angeles, Campbell grew up in Pico Rivera. Campbell earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.
- Fabian Núñez
Fabian Núñez (born December 27, 1966, Logan Heights, San Diego, California, United States) is a Democratic politician and the Speaker of the California State Assembly.
- Steve Westly
Steven Paul Westly (born August 27, 1956, in Arcadia, California) is an American businessman and politician. He was the State Controller of California from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top two candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in the 2006 election. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who later lost to incumbent Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the November 2006 elections.
- John Garamendi
A fast track medical school plan was presented by Lt. Gov. John Garamendi last month. Without a lower-cost alternative, Garamendi said it was likely the Merced medical school would be delayed and perhaps never opened at all as the state's budget crisis mounts. Garamendi is also an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents; his son, John Garamendi Jr . , works as the vice chancellor for University Relations at UC Merced.
- Bill Simon
William Edward Simon, Jr. (born June 20, 1951), best known as Bill Simon, is an American businessman and politician. Simon was born in Neptune, New Jersey, the son of William E. Simon, Sr., the 63rd Secretary of the Treasury under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Coincidentally, Simon was a childhood friend of current Democratic party chair Howard Dean. Simon earned a B.A. from Williams College in 1973, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, …
- Jenny Oropeza
Jenny Oropeza is the California State Senator for the 28th district which includes the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance; the Los Angeles communities of Cheviot Hills, Del Aire, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Lennox, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Palms, Playa del Rey, Rancho Park, San Pedro, West Los Angeles, Westchester, Wilmington and Venice; and part of the city of Long Beach.
- Ted Lieu
Ted Lieu has been a California State Assemblyman since September of 2005 when he was elected to the seat following the death of incumbent Mike Gordon. He is a member of the Democratic Party In the special election to fill the 53rd Assembly district, Lieu won in a landslide victory over three Republicans, including businesswoman Mary Jo Ford and Torrance City Councilman Paul Nowatka. Former Redondo Beach mayor Greg Hill intended to run, …
- William Waldo
William Waldo (1812-1881) was a candidate for Governor of California in 1853. He was born in Virginia, but spent most of his life in Missouri, where he was a merchant and steamboat captain. In 1849 he joined the gold rush to California at the head of a wagon train. In California the next year, reports arrived of impending starvation among numerous immigrants on the Nevada side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
- Abel Maldonado
Abel Maldonado (born August 21, 1967 in Santa Maria, California) is a Republican U.S. politician, who is currently a California State Senator Born in Santa Maria, California, Maldonado is the eldest son of immigrant farm workers. His family eventually acquired a small family farm, where they raised strawberries. After Maldonado graduated from Santa Maria High School, …
- Charles A. Allen
Charles A. Allen served on the Los Angeles City Council following the death of Evan Lewis in 1941 and served until 1947.
- Maureen O'Connor
Maureen Frances O'Connor (July 14, 1946-) was an American Democratic politician from California. Maureen O'Connor was born 1946 in San Diego, California. She was one of 13 children; her parents were former local boxer, "Kid Jerome", and Frances Mary O'Connor. She and her twin sister Mouvorneen ("Mo") were avid athletes in their youth-she a swimmer and her sister a tennis player. Maureen graduated from San Diego State University in 1970.
- Ray Haynes
Raymond Neal Haynes, Jr. is a Republican politician from the state of California. After Haynes graduated from University of Southern California Law School, he moved to Moreno Valley and practiced law in Riverside. He stated a solo law practice in 1988. Haynes was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1992. He served in the California State Senate from 1994 to 2002, including as Senate Republican Whip.
- Anthony Adams
Anthony Adams was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2006 to succeed Dennis Mountjoy. Assemblyman Adams represents the 59th district. He is a Republican. Adams was the director of legislative affairs for San Bernardino County prior to his election to the State Assembly. Prior to this, Adams served as Executive Analyst to Supervisor Bill Postmus. Assemblyman Adams began his career in the political world in 1996, working to elect pro-business, …
- Steve Poizner
Stephen L. "Steve" Poizner (born January 4 1957) is a California businessman and Republican politician, who has been the elected State Insurance Commissioner of California since January 8 2007. Prior to his political career, Poizner worked in the Silicon Valley as a high tech entrepreneur; founding both SnapTrak, Inc. and Strategic Mapping, Inc. Following SnapTrak's sale for $1 billion dollars to Qualcomm, …
- Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk, an American politician and gay rights activist, was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California. He and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978. His assassin, Dan White, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Outrage over the verdict led to widespread rioting in San Francisco by enraged homosexuals and others. Milk is seen by some to be a martyr to the LGBT community.
- Matt Fong
Matt Fong is a Republican political leader from California and former state treasurer. Fong, the adopted son of former Democratic California Secretary of State March Fong Eu, graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1975, Pepperdine University MBA in 1982 and from law school at the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles in 1985.
- John L. Burton
John Lowell Burton (born December 15 1932) was a Democratic California State Senator from 1997 until 2005. From 1998 until he was forced out of office by term limits in 2005, he served as the President pro tempore of the California State Senate. Prior to his time in the State Senate, he served in the California State Assembly from 1965 until 1974, and again from 1988 until 1997. He was originally elected to the Assembly to succeed his brother Phillip Burton, …
- Ward Connerly
Wardell Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is a former University of California Regent, political activist, and businessman. He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national non-profit organization in opposition to racial and gender preferences.. He is considered to be the man behind California's controversial Proposition 209 outlawing race and gender-based preferences in state hiring and state university admissions, …
- Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair Jr., was a prolific American author who wrote over 90 books in many genres and was widely considered to be one of the best investigators advocating socialist views and supporting anarchist causes, he achieved considerable popularity in the first half of the 20th century. He gained particular fame for his novel, "The Jungle" (1906), …
- Van Tran
Van Thai Tran is a U.S. politician, currently serving as a Republican member of the California State Assembly, representing portions of Orange County. Tran and Texas State Representative Hubert Vo are the highest-ranking Vietnamese American elected officials in U.S. history; Tran took office one month before Vo did, making him the first Vietnamese American to serve in a state legislature.
- Kathleen Brown
Kathleen Brown (b. 15th October 1946) is Democratic politician from California. She is the daughter of former Governor Pat Brown and the sister of California Attorney General Jerry Brown (also a former Governor of California). Brown is an attorney and was first elected to the Los Angeles City Board of Education in 1975, and reelected in 1979. She was elected California State Treasurer in 1990.
- Laura Richardson
Laura Richardson (born 1962) represents California's 55th Assembly District. The district encompasses the inland section of Long Beach, Carson, and most of Lakewood. She is a Democrat. Richardson is currently the Democratic nominee for United States Congress in California's 37th congressional district in the 2007 special election to fill the vacancy resulting from the death of Juanita Millender-McDonald.
- Anthony J. Portantino
Anthony J. Portantino (born January 29, 1961 in Long Branch, New Jersey), has represented California's 44th assembly district since December of 2006. He is a Democrat.
- Loni Hancock
Loni Hancock is currently serving in her third term as the representative of California State Assembly District 14. The 14th Assembly District includes Albany, Berkeley, Canyon, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Emeryville, Kensington, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo and parts of Martinez, Oakland, and Walnut Creek. She previously served as the mayor of Berkeley, California from 1986 to 1994. Hancock's party affiliation is with the Democratic Party.
- Chuck Poochigian
Charles S. "Chuck" Poochigian (born May 31, 1949) is a former Republican California State Senator. He campaigned unsuccessfully in 2006 for California Attorney General, losing to former Governor Jerry Brown in the November general election.
- John V. Tunney
John Varick Tunney (born June 26 1934), was a Democratic Party United States Senator and Representative. He is the son of the famous heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney. Tunney graduated from Yale University in 1956. He attended the Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands, in 1957, and graduated from the University of Virginia law school, where he was a roommate of future Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy.
- Deborah Ortiz
Deborah V. Ortiz (born Democratic California State Senator, representing the 6th State Senate District. She was originally elected in 1998 with 55% of the vote, and subsequently re-elected in 2002 with 70.8% of the vote. Prior to her election to the State Senate she served in the California State Assembly from 1996 to 1998 representing the 9th Assembly District of California. California limits state senators to two terms, so Ortiz "termed out" in 2006.
- John Laird
John Laird is a politician from California, currently representing the 27th district in the California State Assembly as a Democrat. Laird and Mark Leno were the first gay men to serve in the California legislature. Laird become one of the United States first openly gay mayors in 1983. Laird's 27th district stretches from Santa Cruz County down through the Monterey Bay and down the coast to the San Luis Obispo county line.
- Bonnie Garcia
Bonnie Garcia ((R)-Cathedral City) is the representative of California's 80th Assembly District, serving eastern Riverside County and all of Imperial County. Assemblywoman Garcia was elected to the post in 2002, becoming both the first Latina to represent the district and the only Latina Republican in the California State Legislature.
- Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 - May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of "hard" science fiction. He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility, and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was the first writer to break into mainstream general magazines such as "The Saturday Evening Post" in the late 1940s with unvarnished science fiction.
- Mike Davis
Mike Davis has represented California Assembly district 18 since 2007. The district is located entirely within Los Angeles County and includes Arlington Park, Athens, Chesterfield Square, King Estates, Koreatown, Lafayette Park, Magnolia Square, North University Park, University Park, Vermont Knolls, West Adams, West Park Terrace and Wilshire Center. Davis hopes to focus on education, health care, transportation, and economic development.
- Dennis Hollingsworth
Dennis Hollingsworth (born January 12, 1967 in Hemet, California) is a Republican politician from the state of California, currently serving in the California State Senate, representing District 36, northwest San Diego County and southwest Riverside County. He serves as the Senate's Assistant Republican Leader. Hollingsworth attended Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo and Cornell University where he studied Dairy Science, …