Gray Davis

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Gray Davis
37th Governor of California
In office January 4, 1999 – November 17, 2003
Lieutenant(s)	Cruz Bustamante
Preceded by	Pete Wilson
Succeeded by	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Born	December 26 1942 (age 64) New York, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sharon Ryer Davis
Profession	Politician
Religion	Catholic

Joseph Graham Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942), better known as Gray Davis, is an American politician who served as the Chief of Staff to Governor Jerry Brown (1975-1981), a California State Assemblyman (1983-1987), the California State Controller (1987-1995), the Lieutenant Governor of California (1995-1999), and the 37th Governor of California from 1999 to 2003. He was elected to a second term in 2002, but because of massive tax increases on the people of the state of California, on October 7, 2003, he became the second governor to be recalled in American history. Davis, a Democrat, was succeeded by Republican Arnold A. Schwarzenegger on November 17, 2003 after a recall election.

Contents 1 Personal background 2 Governorship 3 Job approval history 4 Widespread disapproval 5 Recall 6 Life after politics 7 External links 7.1 News articles 8 Political History

[edit] Personal background

Born in New York City, Davis moved to California with his family as a child in 1954. He graduated from a North Hollywood military academy, the Harvard School for Boys (now part of Harvard-Westlake School). He earned a BA in history at Stanford University, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity, graduating in 1964. He then returned to New York to attend Columbia Law School. After completing the program in 1967 he entered active duty in the United States Army, serving in the Vietnam War until 1969.

Davis returned to California and entered politics, serving as Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff to Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. from 1975 to 1981. He met his future wife, the former Sharon Ryer, while on an airplane tending to official business in 1978. Ryer, a flight attendant for Pacific Southwest Airlines, was miffed when Davis held up the departure of the flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles. Davis apologized and asked her out, and they later married in 1983, with California Supreme Court justice Rose Bird officiating. He was elected to the office of Assemblyman from the 43rd district (Los Angeles County) from 1983 to 1987, then as State Controller until 1995. He was Lieutenant Governor until 1999, and won the 1998 election for Governor with 57.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Dan Lungren who had 38.4%.

[edit] Governorship

Prior to implementing the tax increases which led to his political failure, Davis was strongly viewed as a possible Democratic candidate for President in 2000. The California electricity crisis of 2000-2001 and budget deficit of 2003 hurt his reputation, and talk of his putative Presidential candidacy evaporated.

Having inherited a budget surplus from the previous governor Pete Wilson^{[citation needed]}, the Davis administration focused on balancing the state budget and education reform. However energy problems soon came to dominate his agenda.

Soon after taking office, Davis was able to fast-track the first power plant construction in twelve years in April 1999, but the plant did not come on line in time to avert a crisis--if, indeed, lack of in-state production capacity was at all responsible for the crisis. California's power companies were bankrupted by the unusual provisions of the law which required them to buy power at unregulated wholesale prices while selling it at regulated retail prices to consumers. Significant energy price increases began in May 2000. Rolling blackouts affecting 97,000 customers hit the San Francisco Bay area on June 14, 2000, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company filed a complaint alleging market manipulation in August 2000. On December 7, 2000, suffering from low supply and idled power plants, the California Independent System Operator (ISO), which manages the California power grid, declared the first statewide Stage 3 power alert, meaning power reserves were below 3 percent. Rolling blackouts were avoided when the state halted two large state and federal water pumps to conserve electricity. On December 15, 2000, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected a wholesale rate cap for California, instead approving a "flexible cap" plan of $150 per megawatt-hour. That day, California was paying wholesale prices of over $1400 per megawatt, compared to $45 per megawatt average one year earlier.

By January 2001, speculators, led by Enron Corporation, were collectively making large profits while the state teetered on the edge for weeks, and finally suffered rolling blackouts January 17-18. Davis was forced to step in to buy power at highly unfavorable terms on the open market, since the California power companies were technically bankrupt and had no buying power. In addition, some of Davis' energy advisors were formerly employed by the same energy speculators who made millions from the crisis. The resulting massive long term debt obligations added to the state budget crisis and led to widespread grumbling about Davis' administration.

Davis' popularity recovered somewhat months later as the crisis subsided and popular blame for the shortage was assigned in part to market manipulation by companies such as Enron, though his buckling to the resultant price-gouging remained a negative factor in his 2002 re-election bid. Davis was also criticized for allowing state spending to increase, taking advantage of a temporary surge in revenues associated with the short-lived dot-com boom. When the dot-com boom turned to bust, state revenues fell while ongoing spending commitments created deficits that still trouble California's state budget.

Davis had claimed that he would remove MTBE (a toxic gasoline additive) from the state's gas. A year later he said, "Well, we'll wait a couple of years before we remove it." However, this never happened.

During the 2002 election campaign, Davis took the unusual step of taking out campaign ads during the Republican primaries questioning the conservative credentials of Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan. Davis theorized that, as a moderate, Riordan could be a more formidable challenger in the general election than a conservative candidate and sought to eliminate him in the primaries. The ads pointed out that Riordan held positions on issues such as gun control and abortion that were similar to Davis'. The ads even pointed out Riordan's undecided stance on the death penalty as being to the left of Gray Davis, who strongly supported it.

This strategy succeeded as planned. Riordan was in fact defeated in the Republican primary by the more staunchly conservative candidate Bill Simon. And then Davis was re-elected in the November 2002 general election following a long and bitter campaign against Simon, marked by accusations of ethical lapses on both sides and widespread voter apathy. Davis gained re-election with 47.4% of the vote to Simon's 42.4%. However, the Simon-Davis race led in the lowest turnout percentage in modern gubernatorial history, allowing a lower than normal amount of signatures required for a recall. A memorable footnote to the race was that both Davis and Simon were brothers of the Zeta Psi fraternity (Davis at Stanford, Simon at Williams) and that Davis followed the gubernatorial term of another Zeta Psi brother Pete Wilson of the Yale chapter.

[edit] Job approval history

Just after Davis entered office he enjoyed a 54% approval rating and just 15% disapproval (in March 1999). His numbers peaked in February 2000 with 62% approval and 20% disapproval, coinciding with the peak of the dot-com boom in California. By January 2001, his numbers continued well, but slipped slightly with 57% approval, 34% disapproval. In May 2001, in the middle of the energy crisis, his numbers plunged to 36% approval, 55% disapproval. His numbers recovered slightly over the next year, peaking again in July 2002, this time with 41% approval, 49% disapproval. His numbers remained fairly flat until April 2003 when he had only 24% approval, 65% disapproval. (All data taken from the California Field Poll.)

[edit] Widespread disapproval

On April 14, 2003, the California Field Poll reported that Davis had a record-low job approval rating of just 24%, the lowest ever recorded in the 55 years of the poll. Voters cited disapproval of the state's record $34.6 billion budget shortfall, growing unemployment, and dubious campaign contributor connections. Davis had tried to maintain a middle-of-the-road approach, but ultimately alienated many of the state's liberals who viewed him as too conservative, and many conservatives who viewed him as too liberal. Many were upset that in trying to balance the budget, Davis cut spending for schools while increasing spending for prisons. Many attributed the proposal to the prison guard union's generous donations to Davis' re-election campaign. Californians were also upset that he did not announce the record budget deficit until after his re-election. Some critics accused Davis of overstating the budget deficit, so he could cut spending and raise taxes beyond what was necessary and then claim victory as California's savior when the deficit cleared up. Additionally, there was widespread angst among his constituency when he granted illegal immigrants driver’s licenses.

Widespread negative sentiment was also brewing on talk radio. The top-rated John and Ken Show in Los Angeles called Davis Gumby in response to his changing positions on issues, while Mr. KABC and Al Rantel (also in Los Angeles) coined the term Governor Lowbeam as a reference to his mishandling of the electricity crisis and his term as Chief of Staff for Jerry Brown, who was often mocked as Governor Moonbeam. At the start of 2003, calls began to start a recall petition drive to oust Davis.

[edit] Recall

Main article: 2003 California recall

In July 2003, his unpopularity became so great that a campaign to gather a sufficient number of citizen signatures for a recall election of Davis was successful. This constituted the first gubernatorial recall in Californian history, and only the second in U.S. history. The first occurred in North Dakota in 1921. Although other California governors, including Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Sr., Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, and Pete Wilson, had faced recall attempts, none was successful at forcing a recall election. This effort led to a special election and made Davis the first governor in California history to be recalled.

The initial drive for the recall was fueled by funds from the personal fortune of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican who hoped to replace Davis himself. However, once Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, the actor's fame forced Issa to give up his hopes and he withdrew his name from the race. Faced with a challenger with formidable name recognition, Davis signed into law several controversial measures, including one granting drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. His efforts were to be futile; on October 7, 2003, Davis was recalled with 55.4% of the votes in favor of the recall, and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to replace him as governor.

[edit] Life after politics

After leaving public office, Davis appeared on several shows, such as The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a cameo as himself on CBS sitcom Yes, Dear. In December 2004 he announced that he was joining the law firm of Loeb & Loeb.

Davis has also been in the media since being recalled. Aside from the aforementioned television cameos, he has done many news media interviews about his legacy. He appeared prominently in the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

The debate remains about his legacy and role regarding the energy woes that proved to be his downfall. According to CNN, Davis feels complete vindication because of the revelation that Enron manipulated the California energy market and because of Schwarzenegger's (then) low approval ratings. In a CNN interview on 5 August 2005, Davis noted that although he had been urged to run for Governor of California again by some Democrats , he had no interest in running. Asked about these Democrats' "draft" movement, he told CNN jokingly that, "I'm not running for Governor," he continued, "If I did, my wife would divorce me."

[edit] External links

• Gray Davis Digital Library (active web site, launched 2006)
• Gray Davis's Web site as Governor (from the Internet Archive)
• Gray Davis at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] News articles

• Davis' 2nd term begins under cloud of deficit, by Mark Gladstone, San Jose Mercury News, January 6, 2003
• Davis rating plunges in poll, by Mike Zapler, San Jose Mercury News, April 15, 2003
• Effort to recall California Gov. Davis now considered likely to make the ballot, Associated Press, June 16, 2003
• Election Officials Finish Verifying Names in Calif. Recall Effort, by William Booth and Rene Sanchez, Washington Post, July 23, 2003
• Schwarzenegger Leads Voter Revolt, Davis recalled, San Francisco Chronicle, October 8, 2003
• Gray Davis, Reanimated (Article about Davis' vindication), CNN, August 8, 2005
• Bright Days for Gray Davis, Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2006

[edit] Political History

Preceded by '	Chief of Staff, Governor Jerry Brown 1974–1981	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	California State Assembly 1983–1987	Succeeded by '
Preceded by Kenneth Cory	California State Controller 1987–1995	Succeeded by Kathleen Connell
Preceded by Leo T. McCarthy	Lieutenant Governor of California 1995–1999	Succeeded by Cruz Bustamante
Preceded by Peter B. Wilson	Governor of California 1999 – 2003	Succeeded by Arnold Schwarzenegger

v • d • e Governors of California
Burnett • McDougall • Bigler • J. Johnson • Weller • Latham • Downey • Stanford • Low • Haight • Booth • Pacheco • Irwin • Perkins • Stoneman • Bartlett • Waterman • Markham • Budd • Gage • Pardee • Gillett • H. Johnson • Stephens • Richardson • Young • Rolph • Merriam • Olson • Warren • Knight • P. Brown • Reagan • J. Brown • Deukmejian • Wilson • Davis • Schwarzenegger

Persondata
NAME	Davis, Gray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Davis, Joseph Graham, Jr. (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	California politician
DATE OF BIRTH	December 26, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH