President pro tempore of the California State Senate

The President pro tempore of the California State Senate is the highest-ranking leader and most powerful member of the Senate. He or she also chairs the Senate Rules Committee. At the beginning of each two-year session, all Senators elect a new President pro tempore.^[1]

Dates of Office	President Pro Tem	Political Party	Pro Tem Number
1849	E. Kirby Chamberlain	Democrat	1
1851	Elcan Heydenfeldt	Whig	2
1852-1854	Benjamin F. Keene	Democrat	3
1855	Royal T. Sprague	Democrat	4
1856	Delos R. Ashley	American	5
1857	Samuel H. Dosh	Democrat	6
1858	Samuel Augustus Merritt	Democrat	7
1859	W. B. Dickinson	Democrat	8
1860	Isaac N. Quinn	Democrat	9
1860	Charles J. Lansing[2]	Democrat	10
1861	Richard Irwin	Douglass Democrat	11
1862	James McMillan Shafter	Republican	12
1863	A. M. Crane	Union	13
1864	Ransome Burnell	Union	14
1866	S. P. Wright	Union	15
1868	Lansing B. Mizner	Union	16
1870	Edward J. Lewis	Democrat	17
1872	James T. Farley	Democrat	18
1874	William Irwin	Democrat	19
1876	Benjamin F. Tuttle	Democrat	20
1878	Edward J. Lewis	Democrat	21
1880	George F. Baker	Republican	22
1881	William Johnston	Republican	23
1883	Reginald F. Del Valle	Democrat	24
1885	Benjamin Knight, Jr.	Democrat	25
1887–1889	Stephen M. White	Democrat	26
1891	Thomas Fraser	Republican	27
1893	R. B. Carpenter	Republican	28
1895–1903	Thomas Flint, Jr.	Republican	29
1905–1909	Edward I. Wolfe	Republican	30
1911–1913	A. E. Boynton	Republican	31
1915	N. W. Thompson	Republican	32
1917–1933	Arthur H. Breed	Republican	33
1935–1939	William P. Rich	Republican	34
1939	Jerrold L. Seawell	Republican	35
1941	William P. Rich	Republican	36
1943-1945	Jerrold L. Seawell	Republican	37
1947–1953	Harold J. Powers	Republican	38
1954-1955	Clarence C. Ward	Republican	39
1955–1956	Ben Hulse	Republican	40
1957–1969	Hugh M. Burns	Democrat	41
May 14, 1969 – February 10, 1970	Howard Way	Republican	42
February 10, 1970 – November 30, 1970	Jack Schrade	Republican	43
November 30, 1970 – November 30, 1980	James R. Mills	Democrat	44
November 30, 1981 – January 31, 1994	David Roberti	Democrat	45
January 31, 1994 – February 5, 1998	Bill Lockyer	Democrat	46
February 5, 1998 – November 30, 2004	John L. Burton	Democrat	47
November 30, 2004 – August 21, 2008	Don Perata	Democrat	48
August 21, 2008 – October 15, 2014	Darrell Steinberg	Democrat	49
October 15, 2014–present	Kevin de León	Democrat	50

References

1. "Glossary of Legislative Terms". California Legislative Counsel. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
2. "Charles J. Lansing". JoinCalifornia Election Archive. Retrieved March 23, 2011.

External links

• Record of State Senators—1849–2006 from the California State Senate
• official California State Senators website — homepage.