A crowd in suits and dresses stood around a roped off circle in the midday heat on the Capitol lawn on Tuesday. Inside the circle were several containers of frogs.
Every year in Sacramento, politicians, staff and the press compete in a quirky contest – the annual frog jump on the Capitol lawn.
It has roots in a Mark Twain short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” — which made him and the tradition famous.
Laurie Giannini is the CEO of the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, and she said the official county frog jump started later, when the City of Angels Camp received money to pave its streets in the 1920s.
“They wanted to have a celebration — they decided to have a frog jump,” she said. “The frog jump was so well attended that they eventually merged with the fair in the 1930s.”
The goal is to get the frog to hop as far as it can in three jumps.
A frog prepares for a jump during the annual competition at the California Capitol lawn. May 6, 2025.Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio
State legislators from Calaveras County brought a smaller version of the event to the Capitol in the 70s, and Giannini said it now kicks off the state fair season in California.
“We want to promote California fairs and California fairgrounds, and this frog jump helps us do that,” she said.
Katharine Weir Ebster, a participant from the California Treasurer’s Office, said frog jumping is in her genes — her mom did this in the 1960s.
“Because I grew up in the foothills, I kind of just have known about the frog jump my whole life,” she said. “You just don't touch the frog for too long and you want to basically get in its natural instincts to get away.”
She named her frog Geraldene after a Miranda Lambert song. Other frogs had fun names like Frogs in My Backyard, HOPpenheimer and AmphiBeyonce.
When it was her turn, Weir Ebster put Geraldene down on what looked like a small baseball base and clapped to scare her away. Geraldene made it 10 feet and 6 inches.
Republican Assembly member David Tangipa represents Calaveras County and told CapRadio the best way to get a frog moving is to yell at it.
“Have a hard conversation with your frog, and hopefully it jumps a little bit further,” he said.
I took that advice – I got a frog, gave it some encouragement and slapped the ground behind it. And I won. My frog Green Machine made it 14 feet and 3 inches.
CapRadio reporter Megan Myscofski holds her First Place frog jump trophy along with last year's winner CalMatters Reporter Alexei Koseff.Courtesy of Nicholas VaVerka
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