Miss California USA is the

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

that selects the representative for the state of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Crown Diva Productions. California's most successful placements were in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, 1966,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, 1992, and 2011, when

Terry Huntingdon Terry Lynn Huntingdon (born May 8, 1940) is an American actress who began working in film and television roles after winning the title of Miss USA 1959. Early years Huntingdon comes from a family of five-generation Californians. She attended ...

Maria Remenyi Maria Judith Remenyi (born December 13, 1945 in Denmark) is a Danish-American astrophysicist, cosmologist and beauty pageant titleholder who held the title of Miss USA 1966. Early life Remenyi was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and grew up in Hunga ...

, Summer Bartholomew,

Julie Hayek Julie Lynne Hayek (born October 4, 1960) is an American actress, model, charity worker and beauty queen who won Miss USA 1983. Early life Hayek is of Czech and German descent on her father's side and Norwegian, Scottish, Irish, and English on h ...

, Shannon Marketic, and

Alyssa Campanella Alyssa Marie Campanella (born March 21, 1990) is an American model, blogger, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2011. Having previously been crowned Miss California USA 2011, Campanella was the sixth woman representing Calif ...

, respectively, were crowned Miss USA. The current Miss California USA is Tiffany Johnson of

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 173,516, making Lancaster the 153rd largest city in the United ...

, who is crowned on June 5, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County. Johnson represented California for the title of

Miss USA 2022 Miss USA 2022 was the 71st Miss USA pageant. The competition was held on October 3, 2022 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada and was broadcast on the FYI cable channel. The competition was hosted by Zuri Hall for the second consecutive ...

, she placed at the Top 16.

History

The Miss California USA Pageant was produced by Carolee Munger. Prior to Ms. Munger, Guyrex Productions held the franchise for a number of years and produced successful televised pageants with over 100 participants. Before Guyrex, the pageant was produced by Dr. Leanord Stallcup, who took over the directorship after Faye Smith successfully led the way through the 1970s and 1980s. Also was produced by Top 10 Productions, Inc. San Diego-based. Top 10 was led by Pam Wilson and Alex Kuty, who have been involved in pageant and fashion production for many years. Top 10 took over for K2 Productions in 2013. K2 had a number of controversies but during its 9 years producing the pageant, it managed to be the top placing state at Miss USA, growing the entry numbers to the largest state pageant in the history of Miss USA and doing the first live television airing in over 10 years. In the beginning, K2 Productions was directed by former Miss Teen USA 1995,

Keylee Sue Sanders Keylee Sue Sanders (born July 29, 1977) is an American beauty queen who was Miss Kansas Teen USA and Miss Teen USA 1995. Sanders first won the Miss Kansas Teen USA title in October 1994. In August 1995 she was crowned Miss Teen USA in the n ...

, and Keith Lewis. K2 Productions was later directed by Lewis and briefly co-produced by

Miss USA 1995 Miss USA 1995 was the 44th Miss USA pageant, held at South Padre Island Convention Centre on South Padre Island, Texas culminating in the final competition and crowning on February 10, 1995. At the conclusion of the final competition, Chelsi ...

Shanna Moakler Shanna Lynn Moakler (; born March 28, 1975) is an American model, actress, and reality television star. She was the winner of the Miss New York USA pageant in 1995 and was the first runner-up at Miss USA 1995. After winner Chelsi Smith won the ...

. In October 2021, Kristen Bradford of Crown Diva Productions took over the directorship for California pageants. In 2009

Carrie Prejean Caroline Michelle "Carrie" Prejean Boller (; born 1987) is an American model, former Miss California USA 2009, and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up. Prejean was stripped of her Miss California USA crown for alleged breaches of contract. Litigation ...

was forced to resign after placing 1st runner-up at

Miss USA 2009 Miss USA 2009 was the 58th Miss USA pageant, held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Kristen Dalton of North C ...

after a controversy developed regarding the answer she gave to her final interview question at the national pageant. Pageant organisers claimed she was fired due to contractual violations. California has produced a Miss USA every decade (except the 2000s) and is ranked second highest among states in terms of placements, after Texas.

Shauna Gambill Shauna Gambill (born 22 September 1976) is a beauty queen from Acton, California who has held the Miss Teen USA title and competed in the Miss USA and Miss World pageants. Gambill first won the Miss California Teen USA title in late 1993. In ...

, who won the national

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the M ...

crown in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, is the only Miss California USA who has previously held the Miss California Teen USA title. As Miss California USA in 1998, Gambill placed 1st Runner-Up to Shawnae Jebbia of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. Three Miss California USA titleholders have also competed in the Miss America pageant while two were former winners of the Miss Teenage California Scholarship Pageant.

Gallery of titleholders

File:Erica Dann 2019 by Glenn Francis.jpg, Erica Dann, Miss California USA 2019 File:Nadia_Mejia_2015.jpg, Nadia Mejia, Miss California USA 2016 File:Natasha_Martinez_2013.jpg, Natasha Martinez, Miss California USA 2015 File:Cassandra_Kunze_2014.jpg, Cassandra Kunze, Miss California USA 2014 File:Mabelynn Capeluj 2013.jpg, Mabelynn Capeluj, Miss California USA 2013 File:Natalie Pack 2 2012.jpg, Natalie Pack, Miss California USA 2012 File:Katie Blair 2010.jpg,

Katie Blair Katherine Amanda Blair (born December 29, 1987) is an American actress, model and beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 2006, becoming the first person from the state of Montana to win a major pageant title. In 2011, she was crowned Miss California ...

, Miss California USA 2011 File:Alyssa Campanella 2010.jpg,

, Miss California USA 2011 and

Miss USA 2011 Miss USA 2011 was the 60th Anniversary of the Miss USA pageant, held on the Las Vegas Strip at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Paradise, Nevada on Sunday, June 19, 2011. Rima Fakih of Michigan crowned ...

File:Miss California 2010.jpg, Nicole Johnson, Miss California USA 2010 File:Tami Farrell 2 2009.jpg,

Tami Farrell Tami or TAMI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tami (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with either the given name or nickname * Mark Tami (born 1962), British politician and Member of Parliament * Pierluigi Tami ...

, Miss California USA 2009 File:Carrie Prejean Miss California.jpg,

, Miss California USA 2009 File:Raquel Beezley 2011.jpg,

Raquel Beezley Miss California USA is the beauty pageant that selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss USA pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. The pageant is directed by Crown Diva Productions. California's most ...

, Miss California USA 2008 File:Meagan Tandy 2015.jpg, Meagan Tandy, Miss California USA 2007 File:TamikoNash.jpg, Tamiko Nash, Miss California USA 2006 File:Ellen_Chapman_2015.jpg, Ellen Chapman, Miss California USA 2004 File:Julie Hayek Miss USA 1983.png,

, Miss California USA 1983 and Miss USA 1983

Results summary

*Miss USAs:

(1959),

(1966), Summer Bartholomew (1975),

(1983), Shannon Marketic (1992),

(2011) *1st Runners-Up: Pamela Stettler (1961), Susan Bradley (1967), Diana Magaña (1988),

(1998), Brittany Hogan (2005), Tamiko Nash (2006),

(2009) *2nd Runners-Up: Kim Hobson (1972), Diane Schock (1991), Angelique Breaux (1999) *3rd Runners-Up: Donna Schurr (1955), Marilyn Tindall (1962), Gayle Gorrell (1974), Pamela Gergley (1977), Cynthia Kerby (1981), Meagan Tandy (2007) *4th Runners-Up: Francine Herack (1963), Troas Hayes (1969), Kelly Parsons (1986) *Top 5: Nadia Mejía (2016) *Top 10/12: Karin Morrell (1971), Carol Herrema (1973), Joni Pennock (1976), Donna Adrain (1978), Linda Fogarty (1979), Christina Faust (1989), Jane Olvera (1993), Tarah Peters (2002), Nicole Johnson (2010), Cassandra Kunze (2014), India Williams (2017), Kelley Johnson (2018), Allyshia Gupta (2020) *Top 15/20: Marcella Roulette (1953), Sandra Constance (1954), Peggy Jacobson (1957), Donna Brooks (1958), Teri Janssen (1960), Jeanne Venables (1964), Kathryn Hage (1965), Suzanne Fromm (1968), Linda Hall (1970),

(2008), Mabelynn Capeluj (2013), Tiffany Johnson (2022) California holds a record of 51 placements at

, second overall behind

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and ahead of New York and

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Awards

*Miss Congeniality: Jeanne Venables (1964), Cynthia Kerby (1981), Lori Dickerson (1987) *Miss Photogenic:

(1966), Cynthia Kerby (1981), Shannon Marketic (1992), Cassandra Kunze (2014) *Best State Costume: Suzanne Fromm (1968)

Winners

;Color key

Notes

References

External links

Official Miss California USA website
* {{State pageantry, State=California

California culture Women in California 1952 establishments in California