No. 2: Capitol Weekly’s Top 100

2. Diana Dooley

If it’s important and has anything to do with Jerry Brown’s administration and major California public policy issues, Diana Dooley is in the middle of it. As chief of staff and executive secretary in the governor’s office, longtime Brown loyalist Dooley plays a major role in shaping the administration’s actions on legislation, appointments, staff and pretty much everything else. She’s no stranger to high-level positions: She served as legislative secretary and special assistant to Brown during his first two terms in 1975-83 and moved into the chief of staff slot in March 2018 after the death of Nancy McFadden. Dooley served as the cabinet-level secretary of Health and Human Services and chair of the board of Covered California, where she worked to make the Affordable Care Act survive in California. Dooley, a former top executive for children’s hospitals, was Brown’s first appointment after he was elected to a third term in 2010, has been described as a calming influence, which is handy, as she works from the governor’s inner circle to mold California’s opposition to nearly all things Trump.

Updated Aug. 15, 2018