José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco, Jr. (October 31, 1831January 23, 1899) was a
Californio politician and
diplomat. Involved in
California state and federal politics, Pacheco was elected and appointed to various posts and offices throughout his more than thirty-year career, including the
California State Senate, the
12th governor of California, and three terms in the
United States House of Representatives. Pacheco remains the only
Hispanic or Latino governor in the state's history as part of the U.S. He was also the state's first governor to be born in California and the only governor to be born in the state before statehood. Pacheco represented California in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1877 to February 7, 1878, and from March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1883. He was the first Hispanic Representative from a U.S. state; several others had previously served as
delegates for
U.S. territories and as such did not have full
voting privileges.