Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Dana Williamson

1. Dana Williamson

Let’s start with the basics – the chief of staff to the governor usually tops this list because there isn’t a tougher job out there. All governors are by nature ambitious and driven, and most are also prickly, temperamental, and a touch narcissistic. All of which describes Gov. Gavin Newsom to a tee, even if we are only talking about running the state of California, which you might have heard is kind of a big job. In that regard, Newsom is prone to throwing himself into any number of issues, from insurance to mental health to homelessness to education and yada, yada, yada.  
It all blends into a stew that requires a chief who can multitask as well as he can, who knows Sacramento politics inside and out, who has their own gravitas baked in, and who is not afraid to plant a boot into the appropriate backside when needed. And folks, Dana Williamson is that person. A former advisor and cabinet secretary to Gov. Jerry Brown – speaking of challenging personalities – as well as a longtime political strategist behind some of California’s most notable ballot measure campaigns, Williamson manages the controlled fury of Newsomworld with a deft hand. She is loyal without being overly deferential, highly strategic and absolutely unafraid to go heads up with anyone. And as protective as she might be of him and his agenda, she has the thing every great chief of staff has – the willingness to tell the boss things he doesn’t want to hear. That is critical, particularly in that Newsom has traditionally surrounded himself with people who have been with him for years, which Williamson – like Jim DeBoo before her – has not. But she has clearly earned his trust and his ear, and in an environment as fluid and occasionally chaotic as this one, her ability to keep everything calm, in order and moving forward is invaluable. She is the obvious choice for this spot, and picking anyone else would have been just plain dumb.

Updated Aug. 7, 2024