San Francisco State University

San Francisco State Athletics Hall of Famer John Burton passed away on September 7, 2025 at the age of 92.

Burton lettered in basketball at San Francisco State College and graduated in 1954. Notably, he scored 20 points against a USF team that included young Bill Russell. It was also at San Francisco State that he met Willie Brown and they became lifelong friends. Burton was inducted into the San Francisco State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1998.

Burton was a pro-labor lawmaker who shaped California politics and policy over six decades. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the Great Depression, but grew up in San Francisco with his brothers Phillip and Bob Burton. With his brother, Rep. Phillip Burton, and Brown, Burton was integral to the organization that dominated Democratic politics in San Francisco and the state starting in the 1960s.

He was elected to the California Assembly in 1964, the same year as Brown headed to the Assembly. Burton was elected to Congress to represent San Francisco and part of Marin County in 1974 and served until stepping down in 1982. Burton returned to the Assembly in 1988. In 1996, Burton won a state Senate seat, rising to become president pro tem until term limits forced him out in 2004.

After leaving the Legislature, he chaired the California Democratic Party from 2009 until 2017. In 2014, the newly-opened Democratic Headquarters in Sacramento were named the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters in his honor.

Additionally, he created John Burton Advocates for Youth, a nonprofit group to mentor foster youths and seek policy changes. 

Burton is survived by his daughter, Kimiko Burton, and her two children, Mikala and Juan.