On February 5, 2003, anti-tax activist Ted Costa announced a plan to start a
petition drive to recall Davis. Several committees were formed to collect signatures, but Costa's Davis Recall Committee was the only one authorized by the state to submit signatures. One committee "Recall Gray Davis Committee", organized by Republican political consultant
Sal Russo and former Republican assemblyman
Howard Kaloogian played a smaller role in drumming up support. Kaloogian served as chairman, Russo as chief strategist of the committee. After the recall both Kaloogian and Russo went on to found
Move America Forward. By law, the committee had to collect signatures from registered California voters amounting to 12% of the number of Californians who voted in the previous gubernatorial election (November 2002) for the special recall vote to take place. The organization was given the go-ahead to collect signatures on March 25, 2003. Organizers had 160 days to collect signatures. Specifically, they had to collect at least 897,158 valid signatures from registered voters by September 2, 2003. The recall movement began slowly, largely relying on talk radio, a website, cooperative e-mail, word-of-mouth, and grassroots campaigning to drive the signature gathering. Davis derided the effort as "partisan mischief" by "a handful of right-wing politicians" and called the proponents losers; nevertheless, by mid-May, recall proponents said they had gathered 300,000 signatures. They sought to gather the necessary signatures by July in order to get the special election in the fall of 2003 instead of March 2004 during the
Democratic presidential primary election, when Democratic Party turnout would presumably be higher. The effort continued to gather signatures, but the recall was far from a sure thing and the proponents were short on cash to promote their cause. The movement took off when wealthy U.S. Representative
Darrell Issa, a Republican representing San Diego, California, announced on May 6 that he would use his personal money to push the effort. All told, he contributed $1.7 million of his own money to finance advertisements and professional signature-gatherers. With the movement accelerated, the recall effort began to make national news and soon appeared to be almost a sure thing. The only question was whether signatures would be collected quickly enough to force the special election to take place in late 2003 rather than in March 2004. The Issa recall committee's e-mail stated that California Secretary of State
Kevin Shelley, belonging to the same party as the Governor, resisted certification of the recall signatures as long as possible. By mid-May, the recall organization was calling for funds to begin a lawsuit against Shelley, and publicly considered a separate recall effort for the Secretary of State (also an elected official in California). By July 23, 2003, recall advocates turned in over 110% of the required signatures, and on that date, the Secretary of State announced that the signatures had been certified and a recall election would take place. Proponents had set a goal of 1.2 million to provide a buffer in case of invalid signatures. In the end, there were 1,363,411 valid signatures out of 1,660,245 collected (897,156 required). On July 24, Lieutenant Governor
Cruz Bustamante announced that Davis would face a recall election. This was to be the second gubernatorial recall election in United States history and the first in the
history of California. California's Constitution required that a recall election be held within 80 days of the date the recall petition was certified, or within 180 days if a regularly scheduled statewide election came within that time. Had the petition been certified at the deadline of September 2, the election would have been held in March 2004, the next scheduled statewide election. Instead, Bustamante had to select a date. He chose Tuesday, October 7, 2003, which was 76 days after the date of certification.
Arguments about the recall drive Backers of the recall effort cited Davis's alleged lack of leadership, combined with California's weakened and hurt economy. According to the circulated petition: Opponents of the recall said the situation was more complicated for several reasons. The entire United States and many of its economic trading partners had been in an economic recession. California was hit harder than other states at the end of the
speculative bubble known as the "
dot-com bubble"—from 1996 to 2000—when
Silicon Valley was the center of the
internet economy. California state expenditures soared when the government was flush with revenues. Some Californians blamed Davis and the state legislature for continuing to spend heavily while revenues dried up, ultimately leading to record deficits. The
California electricity crisis of 2000–2001 caused great financial damage to the state of California. The legal issues still were not resolved in time to alleviate California's dire need for electricity, and the state instituted "
rolling blackouts" and in some cases instituted penalties for excess energy use. In the recall campaign, Republicans and others opposed to Davis's governance sometimes charged that Davis did not "respond properly" to the crisis. Most economists disagreed, believing that Davis could do little else—and anyone in the governor's office would have had to capitulate, as Davis did, in the absence of federal help. The
George W. Bush administration rejected requests for federal intervention, responding that it was California's problem to solve. Still, subsequent revelations of
corporate accounting scandals and
market manipulation by some Texas-based energy companies, mainly
Enron, did little to quiet the criticism of Davis's handling of the crisis. Davis swept into the governor's office in 1998 in a
landslide victory and a 60% approval rating as California's economy roared to new heights during the dot-com boom. Davis took his mandate from the voters and sought out a centrist political position, refusing some demands from labor unions and teachers' organizations on the left. The Democratic Davis, already opposed by Republicans, began losing favor among members of his own party. Nevertheless, Davis's approval ratings remained above 50%. When the
California electricity crisis slammed the state in 2001, Davis was blasted for his slow and ineffective response. His approval rating dropped into the 30s and never recovered. When the energy crisis settled down, Davis's administration was hit with a fund-raising scandal. California had a $95 million contract with
Oracle Corporation that was found to be unnecessary and overpriced by the state auditor. Three of Davis's aides were fired or resigned after it was revealed that the governor's technology adviser accepted a $25,000 campaign contribution shortly after the contract was signed. The money was returned, but the scandal fueled close scrutiny of Davis's fundraising for his 2002 re-election bid. In the 2002 primary election, Davis ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. He spent his campaign funds on attack ads against California Secretary of State
Bill Jones and Los Angeles mayor
Richard Riordan, the two well-known moderates in the Republican primary. The result was that his opponent in the general election was conservative Republican and political newcomer
Bill Simon, who was popular within his own party but unknown by the majority of the state population. The attacks from both sides turned off voters and suppressed turnout; Davis ultimately won with 47% of the vote. The suppressed turnout had the effect of lowering the threshold for the 2003 recall petition to qualify. On December 18, 2002, just over a month after being reelected, Davis announced that California would face a record budget deficit possibly as high as $35 billion, a forecast $13.7 billion higher than one a month earlier. The number was finally estimated to be $38.2 billion, more than all 49 other states' deficits combined. Already suffering from low approval ratings, Davis's numbers hit historic lows in April 2003 with 24% approval and 65% disapproval, according to a California
Field Poll. Davis was almost universally disliked by both Republicans and Democrats in the state and a recall push was high. A hot-button issue that seemed to galvanize the public was the vehicle license fee increase Davis implemented under provisions of legislation passed by his predecessor which originally reduced the fees. On June 20, 2003, the Davis administration re-instituted the full vehicle license fee, and the action withstood legal challenge. The action was a key step in the plan to close the $38 billion shortfall in the 2003–2004 budget. The increase tripled the vehicle license fee for the average car owner, and began appearing in renewal notices starting August 1. The California state budget passed in late July 2003 included the projected $4 billion in increased vehicle license fee revenue. Proponents of the Governor's recall characterized the increase as a tax hike and used it as an issue in the recall campaign. In mid-August 2003, Davis floated a plan to reverse the increase, making up the revenue with taxes on high-income earners, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages. When Davis was recalled and
Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor in October 2003, Schwarzenegger vowed that his first act as governor would be to revoke the vehicle license fee increase. On November 17, just after his inauguration, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-1-03, rescinding the vehicle license fee retroactive to October 1, 2003, when the fee increase went into effect. Analysts predicted that this would add more than $4 billion to the state deficit. Schwarzenegger did not indicate how cities and counties would be reimbursed for the lost revenue they received from the license fee to support public safety and other local government activities.
Top candidates In total, 135 candidates qualified for the ballot for the October 7 recall election. Several of the candidates were prominent
celebrities. In the election, only four candidates received at least 1% of the vote: •
Cruz Bustamante, lieutenant governor, Democrat •
Peter Camejo, 2002
Green Party candidate for governor •
Tom McClintock,
State Senator, Republican •
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Hollywood actor, Republican
Election process ; the recall question, along with the list of replacement candidates fills the first three columns. The order of the names on the ballot was determined by a randomization of the sequence of the alphabet, with the list being shifted in each of the state's
80 Assembly districts. As a result, with 135 candidates in the race, some candidates were not able to be listed first in at least one district. The ballot consisted of two questions; voters could vote on one or the other, or on both. The first question asked whether Gray Davis should be recalled. It was a simple
yes–no question, and if a majority voted no, then the second question would become irrelevant and Davis would remain California governor. If a majority voted yes, then Davis would be removed from office once the vote was certified, and the second question would determine his successor. Voters had to choose one candidate from a long list of 135 candidates. Voters who voted against recalling Davis could still vote for a candidate to replace him in case the recall vote succeeded. The candidate receiving the most votes (a
plurality) would then become the next governor of California. Certification by the
Secretary of State of California would require completion within 39 days of the election, and history indicated that it could require that entire time frame to certify the statewide election results. Once the results were certified, a newly elected governor would have to be sworn into office within 10 days.
Filing requirements and candidates Those Californians wishing to run for governor were given until August 9 to file. The requirements to run were relatively low and attracted a number of interesting and strange candidates. A California citizen needed only to gather 65 signatures from their own party and pay a nonrefundable $3,500 fee to become a candidate, or in lieu of the fee collect up to 10,000 signatures from any party, the fee being prorated by the fraction of 10,000 valid signatures the candidate filed. No candidate in fact collected more than a handful of signatures-in-lieu, so that all paid almost the entire fee. In addition, candidates from recognized third parties were allowed on the ballot with no fee if they could collect 150 signatures from their own party. The low requirements attracted many "
average Joes" with no political experience to file as well as several celebrity candidates. Many prominent potential candidates chose not to run. These included Democratic U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein, widely regarded as the most popular statewide office-holding Democrat in California, who cited
her own experience with a recall drive while she was mayor of
San Francisco. Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the recall effort and had said he would run for governor, abruptly dropped out of the race on August 7 amidst accusations that he had bankrolled the recall effort solely to get himself into office. Issa claimed that Schwarzenegger's decision to run did not affect his decision and he dropped out because he was assured that there were several strong candidates running in the recall. The
San Francisco Chronicle claimed that Davis's attacks on Issa's "checkered past" and polls showing strong Republican support for Schwarzenegger caused Issa to withdraw. Schwarzenegger had repeatedly stated that he would not participate in such events until later in the election cycle. Prior to this first debate, Governor Davis spent 30 minutes answering questions from a panel of journalists and voters. Due to the media attention focused on some candidates,
GSN held a game show debate entitled
Who Wants to Be Governor of California? – The Debating Game, a political game show featuring six candidates unlikely to win the election, including former child star
Gary Coleman and porn star
Mary Carey. Several candidates who would still be listed on the ballot dropped out of the campaign before the October 7 election. On August 23, Republican
Bill Simon (the 2002 party nominee) announced he was dropping out. He said: "There are too many Republicans in this race and the people of our state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy." Simon did not endorse any candidates at the time, but several weeks later he endorsed front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger, as did Darrell Issa, who had not filed for the race. On September 9, former
MLB commissioner and Los Angeles
Olympic Committee President
Peter Ueberroth withdrew his candidacy in the recall election. On September 24, the remaining top five candidates (Schwarzenegger, Bustamante, Huffington, McClintock, and Camejo) gathered in the University Ballroom at
California State University, Sacramento, for a live televised debate that resembled the red-carpet premiere of a movie in
Hollywood. Schwarzenegger's marquee name attracted large crowds, a carnival atmosphere, and an army of hundreds of credentialed media from around the world. While the candidate and his staff rode on buses named
Running Man and
Total Recall, the reporters' buses were named after
Predator. The aftermath of the debate was swift. On September 30, author Arianna Huffington withdrew her candidacy on the
Larry King Live television program and announced that she was opposing the recall entirely in light of Schwarzenegger's surge in the polls. Apparently in response to her withdrawal, Bustamante endorsed her plan for public financing of election campaigns, an intended anti-corruption measure. Some replacement ballot candidates urged voters to vote "no" on recall the recall question. An endorsement of voting "no" on the recall was included in several candidates' official statements, including those of Bustamante, Eric Korevaar, Christopher Ranken, C.T. Weber and Tim Sylvester.
Election issues Concurrent alternatives On July 29, 2003, federal judge
Barry Moskowitz ruled section 11382 of the California election code
unconstitutional. The provision required that only those voters who had voted in favor of the recall could cast a vote for a candidate for governor. The judge ruled that a voter could vote for or against the recall election and still vote for a replacement candidate. Secretary of State
Kevin Shelley did not contest the ruling, thereby setting a legal precedent.
Availability of Spanish-speaking poll workers In August, a federal judge in
San Jose announced that he was considering issuing an order postponing the recall election. Activists in
Monterey County had filed suit, claiming that Monterey County, and other
counties of California affected by the
Voting Rights Act were violating the act by announcing that, because of budgetary constraints, they were planning on hiring fewer Spanish-speaking poll watchers, and were going to cut back by almost half the number of polling places. On September 5, a three-member panel of federal judges ruled that the county's election plans did not constitute a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.
Punch card ballots A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claimed that the use of the "
hanging chad" style punch-card ballots still in use in six California counties (
Los Angeles,
Mendocino,
Sacramento,
San Diego,
Santa Clara, and
Solano) were in violation of fair election laws. U.S. District Judge
Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles ruled on August 20, 2003, that the election would not be delayed because of the punch-card ballot problems. There was an estimate that up 40,000 voters in those heavily minority districts might be disenfranchised, if the election were not postponed to remedy the difficulty. His ruling was appealed, and heard by three judges in the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 15, the judges issued a unanimous ruling postponing the recall election until March 2004, on the grounds that the existence of allegedly obsolete voting equipment in those six counties violated the
equal protection constitutional guarantee, thus overruling the lower district court which had rejected this argument. Recall proponents questioned why punch-card ballots were adequate enough to elect Governor Davis, but were not good enough to recall him. Proponents planned to appeal the postponement to the
U.S. Supreme Court; however, an 11-judge
en banc panel, also from the
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and quickly and carefully canvassed by Judge
Alex Kozinski, gathered to rehear the controversial case. Further legal appeals were discussed but did not occur. The ACLU announced it would not make an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Davis was widely quoted in the press as saying "Let's just get it over with", and the election proceeded as planned on October 7.
Polling Public opinion was divided on the recall, with many passionately-held positions on both sides of the recall election. Californians were fairly united in their disapproval of Governor Davis's handling of the state, with his approval numbers in the mid-20s. On the question of whether he should be recalled, Californians were more divided, but polls in the weeks leading up to the election consistently showed that a majority would vote to remove him. Polls showed that the two leading candidates, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat, and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, were neck and neck with about 25–35% of the vote each, and Bustamante with a slight lead in most polls. Republican State Senator Tom McClintock also polled in the double-digits. Remaining candidates polled in the low single digits. Polls in the final week leading up to the election showed support for Davis slipping and support for Schwarzenegger growing. Many observers outside California and some members of the press consistently called the recall chaos and madness as well as a
media circus and nightmare. With the candidacies of a few celebrities and many regular Californians, the entire affair became a joke to some (there were tongue-in-cheek references to Schwarzenegger's role in the science fiction film
Total Recall) as well as an "only-in-California" event. Nevertheless, most Californians took the recall seriously, with the future of the governor's office at stake. In the months before the election, 380,000 Californians registered to vote, for a total of 15.3 million—more registered voters than there had been in the three previous presidential elections.
Predictions ==Results==