My column for the San Francisco Chronicle on former Rep. John Burton

I met him a few times, and he lived up to the press: a fascinating, passionate old school pol who was nicer than he seemed...

State Dems bid adieu to John Burton: ‘His influence was immeasurable’

By Jack Ohman

Sep 7, 2025

The passing of former congressman, assemblyman, California Senate president, and California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton Sunday at 92 marks the end of a tectonic era in San Francisco and California politics.

Former Mayor and Assembly speaker Willie Brown started in politics with Burton as students at San Francisco State, and they teamed up to create a seventy years-long alliance, which created the modern San Francisco Democratic Party structure.

“The Burton Operation”--it was never referred to as the “Burton Machine”-- spawned major national leaders such as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Sen. Barbara Boxer, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.

When asked what Burton’s contribution to California political culture was, Brown said, “It’s not matchable, frankly…his influence was immeasurable.”

For decades, Burton was perhaps the most vociferous progressive force in the state in a state that wasn’t reliably Democratic until the 21^st Century. Elected to the Assembly in 1964, Burton became an early voice against the Vietnam War. He was elected to Congress in 1974, and championed environmental protection, ending apartheid in South Africa, and civil rights.

Burton’s brother, Phil, served alongside him in Congress, and then succeeded him after John’s freewheeling use of cocaine caused him to leave the House of Representatives in 1982. Between them and Brown, they created the California Democratic establishment we know today.

Burton was legendary for his tart, profane language and a charming bluntness. I was introduced to him in 2013, and he turned to an aide and asked him, “Do I need to know this guy?”

I said, “No, John, probably not”.

He used the f-word in every grammatical form save adverbial, and, in 2017, famously ended his tenure as California Democratic chair by raising his middle finger and shouting, “F*** you, Donald Trump!”

That’s no mean tweet.

Later, I spent some time with him at his 90^th birthday party, where that John Burton was nowhere in evidence. By then, he hadn’t remotely mellowed in his politics, but I found him courtly, polite, and inquisitive, introducing me to many strangers gathered in his honor, including Speaker Pelosi.

He was, after all, a politician.

Former Assemblyman, Senate President, and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg recalled Burton’s manner, acknowledging his gruffness but noted that Burton “was very self-effacing,” and “never caring about credit. Just do it. Don’t worry about the credit”.

That seems almost quaint today in the present social media conflagration, where ego is all.

Steinberg added that Burton, as Senate president, provided the early $10 million en route to a $350 million commitment to mentally ill Californians.

Burton’s biographer and author of the forthcoming “I Yell Because I Care: The Passion and Politics of John Burton, California’s Liberal Warrior”, California journalist Andy Furillo described Burton’s post-retirement foundation, The John Burton Advocates for Youth, as a critical part of countless numbers of foster youth’s lives.

Furillo said Burton saw that these kids weren’t getting any help after 18, and the foundation saw that “the overwhelming likelihood (was) that they’d wind up homeless, or to be killed, to become pregnant, to be unemployed” was huge and the Advocates for Youth “aimed to fill that gap”.

Furillo described young John Burton as “living the life” in 1950s North Beach, working as a bartender, going to law school, hanging around the legendary “hungry i” club, protesting the House Unamerican Activities Committee appearance in 1960, working to stop the Bodega Bay nuclear plant, and watching his brother Phil in the Assembly from 1956 until 1964, when his older brother tapped him as his successor in the legislature.

“He calls Warren Beatty, who calls John McCain, who called the two senators to move the stalled bill out of committee”. Only in California would that triple play work, and perfectly illustrated how Burton operated.

John’s world was shattered when Phil, a likely future House Speaker, died suddenly at 56. Phil’s wife Sala was then installed as his successor, and she was shortly thereafter diagnosed with cancer and died in office. Who did The Burton Operation pick?

Nancy Pelosi.

When Pelosi ran to succeed Sala Burton, John Burton was hands-on, watching her from the back while she gave a speech, looking like a “worried grandmother”, according to Bill Stokes, a former Brown aide and Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms.

Stokes recalled helping Burton’s campaign put up signs in his 1988 comeback Assembly race. “There are no for rent sign out there than there are Burton’s signs out there”

The next time Stokes went into new Assemblyman Burton’s office, he had hung a “For Rent” sign.

“Guy had a great sense of humor,” Stokes said.

“He never forgot anything”.

Furillo noted Burton’s personal closeness to Brown.

“John was to Willie’s left, and I think there was tension there, but nothing that affected their relationship”.

For his part, Brown told me that “as of his death, this is the first time we’re divided”.

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Hey, YBs! : Good morning. Probably one more cartoon and then some writing later this week. I’ll post the Week in Review Annotated later today. Have a great day!—J.