Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Ann Patterson

4. Ann Patterson

If ever there was a year for the governor’s legal secretary, this is it. Apart from the usual chores of advising the governor on myriad state legal issues, two legal bombs exploded in June in less than a week: The U.S. Supreme Court repealed Roe v Wade and dramatically loosened restrictions on firearms. That puts abortions and guns at the top of the agenda as she works out how California, which favors tight controls on guns and is pro-choice on abortion, lives with the new SCOTUS decisions. Of course, none of her other legal issues have gone away – PG&E, wildfires, drought and housing, just to name a few – so she has a full-plate, indeed. Patterson, a graduate of McGeorge School of Law, was a partner at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, where she worked in the public policy unit. Husband Nathan Barankin is president of Oak Tree Strategies Group, a communications consultancy, and former chief of staff to Kamala Harris when she was state attorney general and U.S. senator.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022