Gray Davis
From Wikinfo
Joseph Graham Davis, Jr. (born December 26, 1942), best known as Gray Davis, is an American politician, presently serving as the 37th Governor of California. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first governor in California history to be the subject of a recall.
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Personal background
Born in New York City, Davis moved to California with his family as a child in 1954. He earned a degree in history at Stanford University in 1964, then returned to New York to attend Columbia University 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 Jerry Brown from 1974 to 1981, as Assemblyman from the 43rd district (Los Angeles County) from 1983 to 1987, then as State Controller until 1994. He was Lieutenant Governor until 1998, when he was elected Governor with a landslide 57.97% of the vote, defeating Republican Dan Lungren who had 38.4%.
Governorship
With his political successes, he was strongly viewed as a possible Democratic candidate for President in either 2000 or 2004. The energy crisis of 2001 and budget deficit of 2003 have sharply hurt his reputation, and any talk of Presidential candidacy has completely evaporated.
His early administration focused on balancing the state budget and education reform. An electricity shortage and rolling blackouts in the summer of 2001 contributed to massive state debt — and widespread grumbling about Davis's administration — as California chose to negotiate unfavorable long-term contracts with power suppliers in neighboring states. Davis's popularity recovered somewhat months later as the crisis subsided and popular blame for the shortage was assigned in part to alleged 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 also took criticism for continuing to raise spending in the state budget while revenues were dropping.
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 knew that, as a moderate, Riordan would 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's.
This strategy succeeeded, and Davis was re-elected in November 2002 following a long and bitter campaign against Republican candidate Bill Simon, marked by accusations of ethical lapses on both sides and widespread voter apathy. He gained election with 47.4% of the vote to Simon's 42.4%.
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, at the start 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.)
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 has tried to maintain a middle-of-the-road approach, but he has ultimately alienated many of the state's liberals who view him as too conservative, and many conservatives who view 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 clears up.
Recall
In July 2003 his unpopularity became so great that a Republican-initiated campaign to gather a sufficient number of citizen signatures for a recall election for Davis was successful. This constituted the first gubernatorial recall in Californian history, and only the second US-wide.
The Recall Gray Davis Committee was created by conservative Howard Kaloogian. The committee had to collect signatures from 12% of the number of Californians who voted in the last gubernatorial election for the recall vote to take place. This means they had to collect at least 897,158 signatures from registered voters by September 2, 2003. When recall vote takes place, the California Field Poll suggests that 46% of Californians will vote to recall and 43% won't—numbers within the poll's margin of error. If Davis is removed from office, voters will be asked to choose from any candidates who wanted to run from any party, provided they pay a $3,500 filing fee and collect 65 signatures. Those opposed to the recall argue that the special election will cost $25-40 million and that removing Davis from office won't make the budget deficit go away. On July 24, 2003, recall advocates had collected over 110% of the required signatures and the recall was announced. They had set a goal of 1.2 million to provide a buffer in case of invalid signatures. The next day lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante announced that Davis will face a recall election on October 7. This will be the second gubernatorial recall election in the United States history (the first occurred in North Dakota in 1921, 82 years earlier) and the first in the history of California.
For more information see: 2003 California recall
External links
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
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Gray Davis" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Davis August 11, 2003
