View source for Governor of California

{{Short description|Head of government of the U.S. state of California}}
{{For|a list of officeholders|List of governors of California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Governor
| body = California
| native_name = 
| insignia = SEAL gov california.svg
| insigniasize = 130
| insigniacaption = [[Great_Seal_of_California#Government_seals_of_California|Seal of the governor of California]]
| flag = Flag of the Governor of California.svg
| flagsize = 150px
| flagalt = Flag of the governor of California
| flagborder = yes
| flagcaption = [[Flag_of_California#Flag_of_the_governor|Flag of the governor]]
| image = Governor Gavin Newsom in 2025.jpg
| imagesize = 
| alt = 
| imagecaption = 
| incumbent = [[Gavin Newsom]]
| acting = 
| incumbentsince = January 7, 2019
| department = [[California_executive_branch|Executive branch of the<br>government of California]]
| style = 
| type = [[Executive (government)|Chief executive]]
| status = [[Head of state]] <br /> [[Head of government]]
| abbreviation = 
| member_of = [[California executive branch#Governor|Cabinet]]<br>[[Regents of the University of California]]
| reports_to = 
| residence = [[California Governor's Mansion|Governor's Mansion]]
| seat = [[California State Capitol]]<br><small>(principal workplace)</small><br>[[Leland Stanford Mansion|Stanford Mansion]]<br><small>(workplace and reception center)</small>
| nominator = [[Politics of California#Political parties|Political parties]]
| appointer = [[Direct election|Popular vote]]
| appointer_qualified = 
| termlength = 4 years, renewable once
| termlength_qualified = 
| constituting_instrument = [[Constitution of California]]
| precursor = {{bulleted list |[[List of governors of California before 1850#Spanish rule (1769–1822)|Governor of the Californias]]<br><small>([[New Spain]])</small>|[[List of governors of California before 1850#Mexican rule (1822–1846)|Governor of Alta California]]<br><small>([[Centralist Republic of Mexico|Mexico]])</small>|[[California Republic|Commander of the California Republic]]|[[List of governors of California before 1850#U.S. military governors of California (1846–1849)|U.S. military governor]]}}
| inaugural = [[Peter Hardeman Burnett]]
| formation = December 20, 1849
| founder = 
| named_for = 
| first = 
| last = 
| abolished = 
| superseded_by = 
| succession = [[Gubernatorial_lines_of_succession_in_the_United_States#California|Line of succession]]
| unofficial_names = 
| deputy = [[Lieutenant Governor of California]]
| salary = {{US$|224,020|link=yes}} (2022)<ref>{{cite web|url= https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/10/22/governor-gavin-newsom-salary-highest/amp/|title= Gavin Newsom Is Highest-Paid Governor In the United States|date= October 22, 2019|access-date= September 25, 2020|archive-date= September 17, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200917072935/https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/10/22/governor-gavin-newsom-salary-highest/amp/|url-status= dead}}</ref>
| website = {{official website}}
| footnotes = 
}}

The '''governor<!--"governor" is uncapitalized here because it is preceded by the modifier "The", as per [[MOS:JOBTITLES]] bullet 3 and table column 2 example 1.-->  of California''' is the [[head of government]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]]. The [[Governor (United States)|governor]] is the [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[California National Guard]] and the [[California State Guard]].

Established in the [[Constitution of California]], the governor's responsibilities also include submitting the budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and making the annual [[State of the State address]] to the [[California State Legislature]]. The position was created in 1849, the year before California became a state.

The governor is now limited to two terms, regardless of whether they are consecutive. The current governor of California is [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[Gavin Newsom]], who was inaugurated on January 7, 2019. [[Jerry Brown]] was the longest serving governor in California history, serving from 1975 until 1983, and again from 2011 until 2019.
{{TOC limit}}

== Responsibilities ==
According to Article 5 of the State Constitution it lists out the Powers & Responsibilities of Office of Governor of California

* Chief Executive of the State
* Ensures State Laws are faithfully enforced & executed
* Supreme Authority over State Agencies & Departments
* Appoints Officials to State Agencies, Boards & commissions
* Appoints state judges that are vacant
* Commander-In-Chief of the California National Guard (when not federalized) & State Military Reserve
* Can sign bills into law
* Can Veto bills entirely (override by 2/3 majority in Legislature)
* Use a line-item veto on budget bills
* Prepares & submits the statement budget every year 
* Has Authority to approve or reject funding levels for government programs
* Convene the State Legislature if needed
* Deliver the State of the State Address to the State Legislature every year
* Can grant pardons, commute sentences or issue reprieves (cannot grant clemency involving impeachment, requires California Supreme Court approval)
* If a U.S Senate seat become vacant due to death or resignation, the Governor can appoint a replacement
* Can use the “[[Bully pulpit|Bully Pulpit]]" to influence Public Opinion or Legislative Priorities

== Gubernatorial elections, oath, and term of office ==
===Qualifications===
A candidate for governor must be a [[Americans|U.S. citizen]] and a registered voter within the state, must not have been convicted of a felony involving bribery, embezzlement, or extortion, and must not have served two terms since November 6, 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/statewide-direct-primary-election-june-3-2014/qualifications-running-office/summary-qualifications-and-requirements-offices-governor-and-lieutenant-governor/|title=Summary of Qualifications and Requirements for the Offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor &#124; California Secretary of State|website=www.sos.ca.gov}}</ref>

===Election and oath of office===
Governors are elected by [[direct election|popular]] [[ballot]] and serve terms of four years, with a limit of two terms, if served after November 6, 1990.<ref name="Sec'y">{{cite web|author=Shelley, Kevin |title=Summary of Qualifications and Requirements for the Office of Governor |publisher=California Secretary of State Department |date=October 2003 |url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/gov-qual.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128084851/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/gov-qual.pdf |archive-date=November 28, 2008 }}</ref> Governors take the following oath:

<blockquote>I (Governor) do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the [[Constitution of the United States]] and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.</blockquote>Governors take office on the first Monday after January 1 after their election.

=== Gubernatorial removal ===
[[File:Governor's Mansion State Historic Park - exterior 1 (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|The [[California Governor's Mansion]], official residence of the governor]]
Two methods exist to remove a governor.

====Impeachment and removal by the legislature====
The governor [[Impeachment in California|can be impeached]] for "misconduct in office" by a majority vote of the [[California State Assembly|State Assembly]] and removed by a two-thirds supermajority vote of the [[California State Senate|State Senate]].

====Recall by the voters====
Petitions signed by California state voters equal to 12% of the last vote for the office of governor (with signatures from each of five counties equal to 1% of the last vote for governor in the county) can launch a gubernatorial [[recall election]]. The voters can then vote on whether or not to recall the incumbent governor, and on the same ballot can vote for a potential replacement. If a majority of the voters in the election vote to recall the governor, then the person who gains a plurality of the votes in the replacement race will become governor.

Only two governor recall attempts have ever gained enough signatures to make the ballot in California. The [[2003 California gubernatorial recall election|2003 recall election]] began with a petition drive that forced Democratic governor [[Gray Davis]] into a recall election, which he lost. He was replaced by Republican [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]. It was the first time that a California governor was voted out of office by Recall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Recall History in California (1913 to June 30, 2022) |url=https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/recalls/recall-history-california-1913-present |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=California Secretary of State}}</ref>

In addition to the successful 2003 recall, current governor [[Gavin Newsom]] faced a [[2021 California gubernatorial recall election|recall election in 2021]], which he defeated.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-14|title=California Gov. Gavin Newsom stays in power as recall fails|url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-california-climate-elections-a590782877be099d44f1766b2d138394|access-date=2021-09-15|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref>

== Relationship with the lieutenant governor ==
[[File:California Grizzly Bear Statue Capitol Museum (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Bronze statue of a [[California grizzly bear]] outside the governor's office, in the [[California State Capitol]]]]
The [[Lieutenant Governor of California|lieutenant governor of California]] is separately elected during the same election, not jointly as the [[running mate]] of the gubernatorial candidate. As such, California had governors and  lieutenant governors of different parties for nearly 27 of the 33 years between 1978 and 2011, whereas previously, this had only occurred in 1875, 1887, 1895 and 1916–1917 due to the resignation or death of an incumbent governor or lieutenant governor.

This occasionally becomes significant, since the California Constitution provides that all the powers of the governor fall to the lieutenant governor whenever the governor is not in the state of California, with the lieutenant governor sometimes signing or vetoing legislation or making political appointments whenever the governor leaves the state.

In practice, there is a [[gentlemen's agreement]] for the lieutenant governor not to perform more than perfunctory duties while the governor is away from the state: this [[Mike Curb#Political career|agreement was violated]] when [[Mike Curb]] was in office, as he signed several executive orders at odds with the [[Jerry Brown|Brown administration]] when Brown was out of the state. Court rulings have upheld the lieutenant governor's right to perform the duties and assume all of the prerogatives of governor while the governor is out of the state.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=In re Governorship|vol=26 |reporter=Cal.3d |opinion=110 |pinpoint=401 |court=Supreme Court of California |date=1979 |url=http://login.findlaw.com/scripts/callaw?dest=ca/cal3d/26/110.html |quote=we conclude that the Lieutenant Governor has authority to exercise all gubernatorial powers of appointment while the Governor is physically absent from the state and that the Governor has authority to withdraw the appointment until the confirmation of appointment becomes effective.}}</ref>

The lieutenant governor is also the president of the California State Senate.

== Official residence and workplace ==
[[File: Stanford_Mansion_(Sacramento,_California).jpg|thumb|right|[[Leland Stanford Mansion|Stanford Mansion]] is the official reception center for the [[Government of California|California government]] and one of the official workplaces for the governor.]]
The official residence of the California governor is the [[California Governor's Mansion]], in Sacramento. The mansion has served as the residence of 14 governors, while others have declined to reside in the mansion, preferring to arrange for private residential arrangements. It is also one of the official workplaces for the governor.

The governor's primary official workplace is located within the [[California State Capitol]] in Sacramento.

The [[Leland Stanford Mansion|Stanford Mansion]], in Sacramento, serves as one of the official workplaces for the governor, as well as the official reception center for the [[Government of California|California government]].

==Timeline==
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== See also ==
{{Portal|United States|Politics}}
* [[List of governors of California]]
* [[List of governors of California before 1850]]
* [[List of governors of California by education]]
* [[Politics of California]]
* [[Politics of California before 1900]]
* [[First ladies and partners of California]]
* [[List of burial places of governors of California]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}}

{{California}}
{{Governors of California}}
{{California statewide elected officials}}
{{Current U.S. governors}}
{{US Chief Executives}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Governor of California|*]]
[[Category:1849 establishments in California]]