By JANIE HAR
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. John Burton, a salty-tongued and unabashedly liberal San Francisco Democrat who stood up for the working class and nurtured numerous political careers, together with that of former U.S. Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, died Sunday. He was 92.
Burton died in San Francisco of pure causes, his household stated in a press release.
Tributes poured in from California’s prime politicians, who recalled Burton as a fierce and tireless advocate for laborers, foster youngsters and the atmosphere. Over time, Burton mentored Pelosi, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, present U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and numerous different California officers.
One other former San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown, stated Sunday that loss of life had managed to separate him from an expensive good friend who was by his aspect for many years — as faculty college students the place they first met, as fellow newbies within the state Meeting and as influential members of California’s Democratic political machine.
“John Burton may have been the best person with whom I served as a member of the Legislature,” stated Brown.
Burton believed that authorities was at its finest when it served those that wanted it essentially the most, and he by no means backed down from a battle, stated state Democratic Get together Chair Rusty Hicks.
“The greatest way to honor John Burton is to keep fighting with the same grit, tenacity, and heart that defined his life,” Hicks stated in a press release.
“He cared a lot,” stated Burton’s daughter, Kimiko Burton. “He always instilled in me that we fight for the underdog. There are literally millions of people whose lives he helped over the years who have no idea who he is.”
John Lowell Burton was born Dec. 15, 1932, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in San Francisco with plans to show historical past and coach highschool basketball.
However he adopted his older brother, Phillip Burton, into politics and in 1964 was elected to the state Meeting. A decade later, he moved on to the U.S. Home of Representatives, the place he pushed laws defending wilderness areas within the Golden Gate Nationwide Recreation Space and condemning apartheid in South Africa.
Burton stepped down in 1982 to handle a cocaine dependancy, however he didn’t keep gone for lengthy.
In 1988, he returned to the California Meeting and in 1996 he gained a state Senate seat, rising to develop into the chamber’s president. He retired from elected politics in 2004 — solely to move up the California Democratic Get together from 2009 to 2017.
After retiring, he based a nonprofit devoted to foster youth. A remembrance posted Sunday by John Burton Advocates for Youth quoted his exasperation with the shortage of sources out there for foster youth who aged out of the foster care system.
“Emancipated from what? And into what?” he requested. “Into not being able to have a roof over their heads? Into being frozen out of a chance at higher education? Into unemployment? Into a life on the welfare rolls? Into homelessness? Into jail?”
The group has advocated efficiently for greater than 50 legislative reforms, together with monetary support for school and lengthening foster take care of some from age 18 to 21.
Barbara Lee, a former U.S. congresswoman and present Oakland mayor, stated that regardless of his well being challenges, Burton was decided to attend her public inauguration in June, and he did.
“His life’s work reminds us that authentic leadership means having the courage to speak truth to power and never forgetting where you came from,” she stated.
Along with his daughter, Kimiko, Burton is survived by two grandchildren, Juan and Mikala.
Plans for a celebration of life are pending. The household requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his reminiscence to the John Burton Advocates for Youth.
Initially Printed: September 7, 2025 at 3:27 PM PDT
