The Brown family of California

A father and son who between them governed California for an astonishing 24 years, plus a daughter who was the party’s nominee.
California · Governor
Combined career popular votes
29,273,135
Members on the ballot
3
Combined W–L
6–2
Years on the ballot
1958–2014

Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was governor of California in the 1960s; his son Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. served two separate stints in the same office four decades apart, becoming the state’s longest-serving governor. Pat’s daughter, Kathleen Brown, was California state treasurer and the 1994 Democratic nominee for governor.

The Brown family of California members, ranked by career popular votes
MemberOfficesYearsCareer popular votesRecord
Jerry BrownDGovernor1974–201416,826,97740
Kathleen BrownDGovernor19943,519,79901
Pat BrownDGovernor1958–19668,926,35921

How this is measured

Combined career popular votes are summed across the 3 family members we track, each counted once across every presidential, U.S. Senate, governor, and U.S. House election in our data. Family membership is hand-curated and verified against primary sources, never matched by surname alone, so unrelated namesakes are never folded in. A vote for a presidential ticket counts for both the president and the vice-presidential candidate, matching how each profile reports its own totals.

Compiled by PolitiFinder · published June 14, 2026 · sources: Data & sources.