Gray Davis
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor in U.S. history to have been recalled, after Lynn Frazier of North Dakota.
A member of the Democratic Party, Davis holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as a captain in the Vietnam War. Prior to serving as governor, Davis was chief of staff to Governor Jerry Brown, a California State Assemblyman, California State Controller and the 44th lieutenant governor of California.
During his time as governor, California spent eight billion dollars more than was required under Proposition 98 on K-12 education during his first term. Davis faced criticism from civil-rights advocates for his administration’s handling of Williams v. California, a lawsuit alleging that students in under-resourced schools, many in low-income and minority communities, were denied equal educational opportunities. Davis signed the nation's first state law requiring automakers to limit auto emissions. Davis supported laws to ban assault weapons and is also credited with improving relations between California and Mexico. Davis began his tenure as governor with strong approval ratings, but they declined as voters blamed him for the California electricity crisis, the California budget crisis that followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble, and the car tax.
On October 7, 2003, Davis was recalled. In the recall election, 55.4% of voters supported his removal. He was succeeded in office on November 17, 2003, by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the recall replacement election. After being recalled, Davis worked as a lecturer at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and as an attorney at Loeb & Loeb.
Early life, education, and military service
Davis was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Doris Morell and Joseph Graham Davis. Davis was the oldest of five children: Three boys and two girls. Davis's father, an advertising manager at Time Inc. and an alcoholic, was the son of businessman William Rhodes Davis. Davis' upper-middle-class family was led by his demanding mother, who gave him the nickname "Gray". Davis moved to California with his family in 1954.Davis graduated from a North Hollywood military academy, the Harvard School for Boys. His diverse educational experiences at public, private and Catholic schools allowed him an opportunity to compare all three systems as a lawmaker.
Davis's academic accomplishments earned him acceptance to Stanford University. He played on the Stanford golf team with a two handicap. After Davis entered Stanford, his father left the family, forcing Davis to join the ROTC to stay in school; his arrangement with ROTC included a promise to enter the Army after completing his education. In 1964, he graduated with distinction from Stanford, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in history. He then returned to New York City to attend Columbia Law School, graduating with his J.D. degree in 1967.
After completing law school in 1967, Davis entered active duty in the United States Army, serving in the Vietnam War during its height until 1969. Davis saw time on the battlefield during his time in Vietnam. Davis returned home as a captain with a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service. Friends who knew him at the time said Davis—like many war veterans—came back a changed man, interested in politics and more intense, according to the Sacramento Bee. He returned from Vietnam more "serious and directed." Davis was surprised to discover that many of those serving in Vietnam were Latinos, African Americans and southern whites with very few from schools like Stanford and Columbia; Davis believed that the burden of the war should be felt equally and he resolved early on to go about changing America so that would change. Davis is a life member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Early career
Davis volunteered for John V. Tunney's campaign for the United States Senate in 1970. He started a statewide neighborhood crime watch program while serving as chairman of the California Council on Criminal Justice. His initial political experience included working to help Tom Bradley win election as Los Angeles's first black mayor in 1973. The historical significance of Bradley's victory further inspired Davis to pursue a career in politics. Davis ran for state treasurer in 1974 but lost when the more popular Jesse Unruh filed to run on the deadline.Davis served as executive secretary and chief of staff to Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. from 1975 to 1981. Davis was not as liberal as Brown, and some said he offset Brown's style by projecting a more intense, controlled personality. Davis has stated that while Brown was campaigning for president in 1980, Davis ran the state in Brown's absence.
Davis served as the Assemblyman from the 43rd district, representing parts of Los Angeles County including West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 1983 to 1987. Davis championed a popular campaign to help find missing children by placing their pictures on milk cartons and grocery bags. Davis's Republican opponent in the race, William Campbell, criticized Davis as "...the man special interests love most." Among other allegations raised by Campbell were disclosures that Davis had received campaign contributions from Eugene LaPietra, a candidate for the West Hollywood City Council who was convicted on federal pornography charges. LaPietra served as Davis’ finance chairman. Davis cut all ties with La Pietra following a Los Angeles Times report on his pornography convictions.
State Controller
In 1986, Davis ran against six other contenders in the race for State Controller; several of those candidates, including Democrat John Garamendi and Republican Bill Campbell, were arguably better known at the time. Davis won the election and served as State Controller for eight years until 1995. As California's chief fiscal officer, he saved taxpayers more than half a billion dollars by cracking down on Medi-Cal fraud, rooting out government waste and inefficiency and exposing the misuse of public funds. He was the first controller to withhold paychecks from all state elected officials, including himself, until the governor and the Legislature passed an overdue budget. He also found and returned more than $1.8 billion in unclaimed property to California citizens, including forgotten bank accounts, insurance settlements and stocks.1992 U.S. Senate campaign
Davis ran against San Francisco mayor Dianne Feinstein for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in the 1992 special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Pete Wilson who was elected Governor of California in 1990.The race is often cited as an example of Davis's history of negative campaign tactics. The Davis campaign featured an ad that compared Feinstein to the incarcerated hotelier Leona Helmsley. Some experts consider that ad to be the most negative in state history. The ad backfired with Davis losing to Feinstein by a significant margin for the nomination, although this loss did not stop Davis from using negative campaign ads in the future, including in his race for lieutenant governor.
Davis blamed his campaign managers for the defeat and vowed not to let major decisions in future campaigns be decided by his campaign staff. In 2003, when Feinstein urged voters to vote no during the recall election, she was constantly reminded through questions, video and the media about the 1992 primary.
Lieutenant Governor of California
Many Democrats came to believe that Davis's political career was over after his defeat in his run for the Senate, but Davis created a new campaign team. He won the race for lieutenant governor in 1994. Davis ran as a moderate candidate against Republican Cathie Wright. Davis used ads to depict Wright as a Republican who was too conservative for California. Davis had a large advantage in campaign funds.As lieutenant governor until 1999, Gray Davis focused on efforts on the California economy and worked to encourage new industries to locate and expand in the state. He also worked to keep college education affordable for California's middle-class families and oversaw the largest student-fee reduction in California history. As the state's second-highest officeholder, he served as President of the State Senate, Chair of the Commission for Economic Development, Chair of the State Lands Commission, Regent of the University of California and Trustee of the California State University.
Governor of California
1998 gubernatorial campaign
In the June primary election, Davis surprised political observers by handily defeating two better funded Democratic opponents: multimillionaire airline executive Al Checchi and Congresswoman Jane Harman, wife of multimillionaire Sidney Harman. Davis's campaign slogan during the primary was "Experience Money Can't Buy." Early primary polls showed Davis in third for the Democratic nomination. Davis surprised many political insiders with his landslide come-from-behind victory. Davis even finished ahead of the unopposed Republican nominee in California's first blanket gubernatorial primary.Davis won the 1998 general election for governor with 57.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Attorney General Dan Lungren who had 38.4%. Davis aimed to portray himself as a moderate centrist Democrat and to label Lungren a Republican too conservative for California and out of touch with its views on issues like guns and abortion. After his victory, Davis declared that he would work to end the "divisive politics" of his predecessor Pete Wilson. In his campaign, Davis emphasized the need to improve California's public schools, which voters had cited as their top concern in this election.