Sixty-eight people have been elected and served as Governor or Lieutenant Governor of the State of California. Since 1849 46 of those have been elected and served as Governor or Lieutenant Governor of California for at least their four-year term. Twenty-four elected republicans served their full four-year term as Governor or Lieutenant Governor. Twenty elected democrats served their full four-year term as Governor or Lieutenant Governor. One elected union and one elected progressive also served their full four-year term as Governor. Four Governors who served their full four-year term also served at least a full four-year term as Lieutenant Governor (Governor Young, Governor Knight, Governor Davis and Governor Newsom).

Mike Curb was the only elected republican Lieutenant Governor who served a full four-year term with a democratic Governor, which included Curb acting as Governor 240 days during Governor Brown's second term (confirmed by California Supreme Court decision December 1979 Brown v. Curb).

Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb were the last elected republicans who served a full four-year term. Current California Governor Gavin Newsom and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis are the last two democrats elected to serve a full four-year term.