“He believed that if you’re in a position of power or influence, the most important thing you could do is help those with the least,” his family said in a statement on Sunday announcing his death. “Protecting the underdog, the poor, the disabled and workers was always his top priority.”
Burton, 92, started his public career in 1964 in the Assembly after a stint as a lobbyist for utility company PG&E, forging a reputation as a sharp advocate for foster youth and health care expansion with a plain-spoken style of speaking interspersed with profanities.
At his last state Democratic Party convention before retiring as chair in 2017, he led a crowd in flipping off President Donald Trump, along with a four-letter invective.
“I think the government’s there to help people who can’t help themselves,” Burton said during a 2018 interview with Capitol Weekly. “And there’s a lot of people that can’t help themselves.”
He came up in San Francisco politics alongside his brother, Congressman Philip Burton, and Willie Brown, helping to establish the city as a major nexus of California Democratic politics. He also helped launch the careers of people like House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who in 1987 replaced Sala Burton, who had stepped into her late husband’s congressional seat after he suddenly died in office in 1983.
“John Burton was a gruff, giant of a person. He was a deep thinker and a shorthand talker,” Christine Pelosi , the Speaker emerita’s daughter, said Sunday. “He always found a way to connect people, even if they didn’t agree politically, then culturally. He really was a tremendous figure and inspired so many people. He cared about people to his dying breath. It’s an incredibly deep loss.”
In a statement, Speaker Emerita Pelosi called Burton “one of the most outspoken, ferocious, and unyielding champions our nation has every known,” thanking him for managing her first congressional campaign.
“(For) more than three decades in the Congress, I was blessed to have John as a source of wise counsel, sound judgment and brash humor — and he always served as a constant reinvigoration of my inspiration to carry on the fight For The People.”
Burton was also a friend of Judge William Newsom, and mentored his son, Gavin Newsom, the future San Francisco mayor and governor, who got his start in politics in 1996 after Brown named him to the city Parking and Traffic Commission at Burton’s recommendation.
Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced Sunday that Burton would be posthumously inducted into the California Hall of Fame in December, joining 166 other figures important to California’s history, including conservationist John Muir and sculptor Ruth Asawa .
“When it comes to California politics, there is no one like John Burton,” Newsom said on X. “A legendary powerhouse who breathed life into our party and fought for a better California for everyone — uniting Democrats across race, belief, and background. His candor, passion, and empathy were contagious. May his legacy of courage and conviction live on in each of us.”
After serving in the Assembly, Burton was elected to Congress in 1974, serving until 1983, after which he stepped down to address a cocaine addiction that had threatened to derail his career in public service. After that, he returned to the California Assembly in 1988, launching an “incredible comeback” that later led to his 1996 election as Senate President pro tem, according to his daughter, Kimiko Burton.
“Every since his recovery, he always made time to help others dealing with the struggle of addiction,” she said.
After retiring from politics in 2004, Burton went on to establish the John Burton Advocates for Youth to reform the state’s foster care system, and chaired the state Democratic Party from 2009 to 2017.
“John was bluntly honest and never shied away from a fight if it meant protecting the vulnerable and giving a voice to the voiceless — a mission he carried on even after his political career by providing a pathway to a better life for thousands of foster youth and securing billions of dollars to invest in their success,” U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D- Calif., said Sunday.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D- Salinas, said Burton’s “relentlessness, outspokenness and never-surrender approach” will be missed greatly.
“It is not lost on anyone that, in this second Trump term, California needs John more than ever. I am proud to have known him.”
Andy Furillo, a former Sacramento Bee reporter who helped Burton write a recently published memoir, called him a “truly historic figure” whose North Star was advocating for those whose voices he thought were underrepresented in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
That earned him respect from all corners of the state, even those whose politics differed from his.
“John Burton never backed down from a fight, especially when it meant standing up for the little guy,” said Neil Flood, the president for the Correctional Police Officers Association. “He was a force of nature in California politics, and the men and women who serve in our state’s correctional institutions were lucky to have him in their corner for decades.”
Shawn Steel, former state Republican Party chair and Republican National Committee member, called him one of California’s “most consequential” politicians: “He lived a colorful life and whether you agreed with him or not, he was always direct and honest. His impact on California politics will not be forgotten.”
Burton is survived by daughter Kimiko, her mother Michele Burton, and grandchildren Juan and Mikala.
The Bee’s Kate Wolffe contributed to this story.
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