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Turnout | 36.05% 5.38pp | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Davis: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Simon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in California |
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The 2002 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 5, 2002. Gray Davis, a Democrat and the incumbent governor of California, defeated the Republican challenger Bill Simon by 5% and was re-elected to a second four-year term. Davis would be recalled less than a year into his next term.
The 2002 gubernatorial primary occurred in March 2002. Davis faced no major competitor in the primary and won the nomination. Simon defeated former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan in the Republican primary. Davis ran a series of negative advertisements against Riordan in the primary. Riordan was seen as a moderate and early state polls showed him defeating Gray Davis in the general election. This election is the last time that a gubernatorial candidate was elected governor of California by a single-digit margin.
During the 2002 election campaign, Davis took the unusual step of taking out campaign advertisements during the Republican primaries against Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan. Davis stated that Riordan had attacked his record and that his campaign was defending his record. [1] Polls showed that, as a moderate, Riordan would be a more formidable challenger in the general election than a conservative candidate. Polls even showed that Riordan would defeat Davis. [2] Davis attacked Riordan with negative advertisements in the primary. The advertisements questioned Riordan's support of anti-abortion politicians and judges. [3] [4] The advertisements cited Riordan's position of wanting a moratorium on the death penalty as being to the left of Davis, who strongly supported it. [5] [6] [7]
In 2000, the United States Supreme Court in California Democratic Party v. Jones struck down California's blanket primary. [8] With the end of the blanket primary, only non-partisans and registered Republicans could vote for Riordan in the 2002 primary. The end of the blanket primary made it more difficult for the more moderate Riordan. It has long been known in politics that primary voters are much more ideological and strongly liberal or strongly conservative than those who vote in the general election. [9]
The Republican primary included negative attacks between Bill Jones and Riordan. Jones highlighted in his attack advertisements against Riordan that Riordan had contributed money to Davis in past campaigns and had called Bill Clinton "the greatest leader in the free world". Riordan's counter advertisements highlighted that Jones had also contributed money to Davis. By late February 2002, Riordan's strong lead in the Republican primary had begun to slip. In the previous months of the campaign, Riordan focused his advertisements and energies on campaigning against Gray Davis and defending himself from Davis' attack advertisements. [5] Davis' negative advertisements against Riordan appear to have contributed to Riordan's defeat in the Republican primary by the more staunchly conservative candidate Bill Simon. [10]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gray Davis (incumbent) | 1,755,276 | 80.90% | |
Democratic | Anselmo A. Chavez | 179,301 | 8.26% | |
Democratic | Charles "Chuck" Pineda Jr. | 139,121 | 6.41% | |
Democratic | Mosemarie Boyd | 95,857 | 4.42% | |
Total votes | 2,169,555 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Bill Simon | 1,129,973 | 49.44% | |
Republican | Richard Riordan | 715,768 | 31.32% | |
Republican | Bill Jones | 387,237 | 16.94% | |
Republican | Nick Jesson | 19,287 | 0.84% | |
Republican | Edie Bukewihge | 14,436 | 0.63% | |
Republican | Danney Ball | 13,156 | 0.58% | |
Republican | Jim Dimov | 5,595 | 0.24% | |
Total votes | 2,285,452 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Green | Peter Miguel Camejo | 35,767 | 100.00% | |
Total votes | 35,767 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
American Independent | Reinhold Gulke | 26,269 | 100.00% | |
Total votes | 26,269 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Libertarian | Gary David Copeland | 19,079 | 98.80% | |
Libertarian | Art Olivier (write-in) | 232 | 1.20% | |
Total votes | 19,311 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Natural Law | Iris Adam | 4,402 | 100.00% | |
Total votes | 4,402 | 100.00% |
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. [12] Simon was also hurt by a financial fraud scandal that tarnished his reputation. [13] Davis' campaign featured several negative advertisements that highlighted Simon's financial fraud scandal. [14] Simon attacked Davis for supposedly fundraising in the lieutenant governor of California's office during his time as Lieutenant Governor; the attack backfired when it turned out the photograph had been instead taken in a private home in Santa Monica. [15] [16]
The 2002 gubernatorial race was the most expensive in California state history with over $100 million spent. [17] Davis' campaign was better financed; Davis had over $26 million in campaign reserves more than Simon in August 2002. [14] Davis won re-election with 47.3% of the vote to Simon's 42.4%. It had the lowest voter turnout percentage in modern gubernatorial history, allowing for a lower than normal number of signatures required for a recall election, which ultimately qualified in 2003. [18] Davis won the election but the majority of the voters disliked Davis and did not approve of his job performance. [19] [20]
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report [21] | Lean D | October 31, 2002 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball [22] | Likely D | November 4, 2002 |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size [a] | Margin of error | Gray Davis (D) | Bill Simon (R) | Peter Camejo (G) | Gary Copeland (L) | Other / Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SurveyUSA [23] | November 1–3, 2002 | 563 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 45% | 39% | 8% | 4% | 5% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Gray Davis (incumbent) | 3,533,490 | 47.26% | −10.71% | |
Republican | Bill Simon | 3,169,801 | 42.40% | +4.02% | |
Green | Peter Miguel Camejo | 393,036 | 5.26% | +4.01% | |
Libertarian | Gary David Copeland | 161,203 | 2.16% | +1.28% | |
American Independent | Reinhold Gulke | 128,035 | 1.71% | +1.26% | |
Natural Law | Iris Adam | 88,415 | 1.18% | +0.81% | |
Write-in | 2,331 | 0.03% | |||
Invalid or blank votes | 262,470 | 3.39% | |||
Majority | 363,689 | 4.86% | |||
Total votes | 7,476,311 [b] | 100.00% | |||
Democratic hold | Swing | -14.73% |
County | Gray Davis Democratic | Bill Simon Republican | Peter Camejo Green | Gary Copeland Libertarian | Reinhold Gulke AIP | Iris Adam NLP | All Others Write-in | Margin | Total votes cast [24] | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Alameda | 216,058 | 62.83% | 76,407 | 22.22% | 37,919 | 11.03% | 6,558 | 1.91% | 3,622 | 1.05% | 3,319 | 0.97% | 18 | 0.01% | 139,651 | 40.61% | 343,901 |
Alpine | 229 | 40.89% | 247 | 44.11% | 40 | 7.14% | 15 | 2.68% | 17 | 3.04% | 12 | 2.14% | 0 | 0.00% | -18 | -3.21% | 560 |
Amador | 4,437 | 34.19% | 6,997 | 53.91% | 740 | 5.70% | 246 | 1.90% | 338 | 2.60% | 220 | 1.70% | 0 | 0.00% | -2.560 | -19.73% | 12,978 |
Butte | 19,437 | 31.63% | 32,706 | 53.22% | 5,963 | 9.70% | 1,050 | 1.71% | 1,497 | 2.44% | 802 | 1.30% | 2 | 0.00% | -13,269 | -21.59% | 61,457 |
Calaveras | 5,052 | 33.25% | 8,104 | 53.34% | 875 | 5.76% | 434 | 2.86% | 489 | 3.22% | 240 | 1.58% | 0 | 0.00% | -3,052 | -20.09% | 15,194 |
Colusa | 1,243 | 27.17% | 2,996 | 65.49% | 131 | 2.86% | 48 | 1.05% | 118 | 2.58% | 39 | 0.85% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,753 | -38.32% | 4,575 |
Contra Costa | 140,975 | 53.22% | 94,487 | 35.67% | 16,676 | 6.30% | 5,894 | 2.23% | 3,905 | 1.47% | 2,931 | 1.11% | 2 | 0.00% | 46,488 | 17.55% | 264,870 |
Del Norte | 2,922 | 43.29% | 3,093 | 45.82% | 207 | 3.07% | 165 | 2.44% | 239 | 3.54% | 124 | 1.84% | 0 | 0.00% | -171 | -2.53% | 6,750 |
El Dorado | 16,402 | 29.43% | 32,898 | 59.03% | 3,418 | 6.13% | 1,072 | 1.92% | 1,203 | 2.16% | 736 | 1.32% | 0 | 0.00% | -16,496 | -29.60% | 55,729 |
Fresno | 59,019 | 37.96% | 85,910 | 55.26% | 3,508 | 2.26% | 3,560 | 2.29% | 2,214 | 1.42% | 1,260 | 0.81% | 0 | 0.00% | -26,891 | -17.30% | 155,471 |
Glenn | 1,685 | 25.86% | 4,268 | 65.49% | 187 | 2.87% | 96 | 1.47% | 200 | 3.07% | 81 | 1.24% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,583 | -39.63% | 6,517 |
Humboldt | 19,499 | 45.44% | 16,118 | 37.56% | 5,170 | 12.05% | 961 | 2.24% | 547 | 1.27% | 612 | 1.43% | 0 | 0.00% | 3,381 | 7.88% | 42,907 |
Imperial | 11,644 | 53.29% | 8,789 | 40.23% | 546 | 2.50% | 258 | 1.18% | 360 | 1.65% | 252 | 1.15% | 0 | 0.00% | 2,855 | 13.07% | 21,849 |
Inyo | 2,114 | 33.62% | 3,567 | 56.73% | 210 | 3.34% | 142 | 2.26% | 159 | 2.53% | 96 | 1.53% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,453 | -23.11% | 6,288 |
Kern | 46,250 | 33.69% | 82,660 | 60.21% | 1,965 | 1.43% | 1,839 | 1.34% | 3,002 | 2.19% | 1,568 | 1.14% | 4 | 0.00% | -36,410 | -26.52% | 137,288 |
Kings | 7,776 | 36.65% | 12,212 | 57.56% | 298 | 1.40% | 246 | 1.16% | 491 | 2.31% | 192 | 0.91% | 0 | 0.00% | -4,436 | -20.91% | 21,215 |
Lake | 7,424 | 46.71% | 6,459 | 40.64% | 965 | 6.07% | 336 | 2.11% | 451 | 2.84% | 258 | 1.62% | 0 | 0.00% | 965 | 6.07% | 15,893 |
Lassen | 2,429 | 31.57% | 4,512 | 58.64% | 155 | 2.01% | 166 | 2.16% | 317 | 4.12% | 115 | 1.49% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,083 | -27.07% | 7,694 |
Los Angeles | 953,162 | 55.87% | 594,748 | 34.86% | 72,886 | 4.27% | 39,934 | 2.34% | 25,160 | 1.47% | 19,067 | 1.12% | 1,102 | 0.06% | 358,414 | 21.01% | 1,706,059 |
Madera | 8,217 | 31.40% | 15,998 | 61.13% | 517 | 1.98% | 517 | 1.98% | 651 | 2.49% | 269 | 1.03% | 0 | 0.00% | -7,781 | -29.73% | 26,169 |
Marin | 49,512 | 56.23% | 24,520 | 27.85% | 10,710 | 12.16% | 1,502 | 1.71% | 917 | 1.04% | 890 | 1.01% | 4 | 0.00% | 24,992 | 28.38% | 88,055 |
Mariposa | 2,126 | 32.78% | 3,720 | 57.36% | 215 | 3.32% | 130 | 2.00% | 193 | 2.98% | 101 | 1.56% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,594 | -24.58% | 6,485 |
Mendocino | 10,832 | 43.50% | 8,331 | 33.45% | 4,119 | 16.54% | 581 | 2.33% | 680 | 2.73% | 359 | 1.44% | 2 | 0.01% | 2,501 | 10.04% | 24,904 |
Merced | 18,071 | 44.56% | 19,191 | 47.32% | 792 | 1.95% | 1,379 | 3.40% | 749 | 1.85% | 374 | 0.92% | 2 | 0.00% | -1,120 | -2.76% | 40,558 |
Modoc | 900 | 26.62% | 2,161 | 63.92% | 54 | 1.60% | 67 | 1.98% | 145 | 4.29% | 54 | 1.60% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,261 | -37.30% | 3,381 |
Mono | 1,064 | 35.99% | 1,552 | 52.50% | 154 | 5.21% | 64 | 2.17% | 76 | 2.57% | 46 | 1.56% | 0 | 0.00% | -488 | -16.51% | 2,956 |
Monterey | 47,052 | 54.10% | 31,532 | 36.25% | 3,794 | 4.36% | 2,191 | 2.52% | 1,402 | 1.61% | 1,003 | 1.15% | 0 | 0.00% | 15,520 | 17.84% | 86,974 |
Napa | 17,516 | 47.76% | 13,483 | 36.77% | 3,570 | 9.73% | 774 | 2.11% | 824 | 2.25% | 505 | 1.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 4,033 | 11.00% | 36,672 |
Nevada | 13,338 | 33.93% | 20,573 | 52.33% | 3,297 | 8.39% | 743 | 1.89% | 817 | 2.08% | 546 | 1.39% | 1 | 0.00% | -7,235 | -18.40% | 39,315 |
Orange | 222,149 | 34.66% | 368,152 | 57.43% | 16,670 | 2.60% | 14,668 | 2.29% | 10,393 | 1.62% | 8,374 | 1.31% | 602 | 0.09% | -146,003 | -22.78% | 641,008 |
Placer | 28,495 | 29.66% | 58,623 | 61.03% | 4,657 | 4.85% | 1,500 | 1.56% | 1,556 | 1.62% | 1,222 | 1.27% | 3 | 0.00% | -30,128 | -31.37% | 96,056 |
Plumas | 2,598 | 33.06% | 4,310 | 54.85% | 380 | 4.84% | 182 | 2.32% | 264 | 3.36% | 124 | 1.58% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,712 | -21.79% | 7,858 |
Riverside | 121,845 | 40.25% | 159,440 | 52.68% | 5,995 | 1.98% | 6,601 | 2.18% | 5,530 | 1.83% | 2,987 | 0.99% | 285 | 0.09% | -37,595 | -12.42% | 302,683 |
Sacramento | 129,143 | 40.82% | 147,456 | 46.60% | 22,232 | 7.03% | 6,634 | 2.10% | 6,245 | 1.97% | 4,668 | 1.48% | 19 | 0.01% | -18,313 | -5.79% | 316,397 |
San Benito | 6,049 | 48.89% | 5,163 | 41.73% | 504 | 4.07% | 275 | 2.22% | 208 | 1.68% | 174 | 1.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 886 | 7.16% | 12,373 |
San Bernardino | 116,757 | 41.23% | 142,513 | 50.32% | 6,754 | 2.38% | 6,485 | 2.29% | 6,884 | 2.43% | 3,751 | 1.32% | 47 | 0.02% | -25,756 | -9.09% | 283,191 |
San Diego | 268,278 | 40.57% | 342,095 | 51.73% | 18,184 | 2.75% | 13,742 | 2.08% | 11,246 | 1.70% | 7,662 | 1.16% | 91 | 0.01% | -73,817 | -11.16% | 661,298 |
San Francisco | 143,102 | 66.20% | 33,214 | 15.37% | 33,495 | 15.50% | 3,048 | 1.41% | 1,639 | 0.76% | 1,649 | 0.76% | 9 | 0.00% | 109,607 [c] | 50.70% | 216,196 |
San Joaquin | 53,747 | 43.54% | 58,239 | 47.18% | 4,630 | 3.75% | 2,540 | 2.06% | 2,736 | 2.22% | 1,546 | 1.25% | 5 | 0.00% | -4,492 | -3.64% | 123,443 |
San Luis Obispo | 29,732 | 36.40% | 43,552 | 53.31% | 4,189 | 5.13% | 1,618 | 1.98% | 1,531 | 1.87% | 1,033 | 1.26% | 35 | 0.04% | -13,820 | -16.92% | 81,690 |
San Mateo | 99,803 | 57.95% | 51,497 | 29.90% | 13,537 | 7.86% | 3,205 | 1.86% | 2,144 | 1.24% | 2,020 | 1.17% | 4 | 0.00% | 48,306 | 28.05% | 172,210 |
Santa Barbara | 50,741 | 44.32% | 52,832 | 46.15% | 5,785 | 5.05% | 2,586 | 2.26% | 1,401 | 1.22% | 1,141 | 1.00% | 5 | 0.00% | -2,091 | -1.83% | 114,491 |
Santa Clara | 199,399 | 55.33% | 116,862 | 32.43% | 24,097 | 6.69% | 9,430 | 2.62% | 5,951 | 1.65% | 4,652 | 1.29% | 5 | 0.00% | 82,537 | 22.90% | 360,396 |
Santa Cruz | 43,469 | 56.03% | 20,598 | 26.55% | 9,409 | 12.13% | 1,777 | 2.29% | 1,166 | 1.50% | 1,164 | 1.50% | 1 | 0.00% | 22,871 | 29.48% | 77,584 |
Shasta | 15,292 | 31.49% | 28,625 | 58.95% | 1,283 | 2.64% | 942 | 1.94% | 1,664 | 3.43% | 753 | 1.55% | 0 | 0.00% | -13,333 | -27.46% | 48,559 |
Sierra | 420 | 29.21% | 805 | 55.98% | 72 | 5.01% | 67 | 4.66% | 50 | 3.48% | 24 | 1.67% | 0 | 0.00% | -385 | -26.77% | 1,438 |
Siskiyou | 4,972 | 31.87% | 9,112 | 58.40% | 437 | 2.80% | 386 | 2.47% | 440 | 2.82% | 252 | 1.62% | 4 | 0.03% | -4,140 | -26.53% | 15,603 |
Solano | 46,385 | 52.40% | 33,516 | 37.86% | 4,038 | 4.56% | 1,316 | 1.49% | 2,174 | 2.46% | 1,092 | 1.23% | 1 | 0.00% | 12,869 | 14.54% | 88,522 |
Sonoma | 73,079 | 50.39% | 43,408 | 29.93% | 19,599 | 13.51% | 3,097 | 2.14% | 3,529 | 2.43% | 2,312 | 1.59% | 4 | 0.00% | 29,671 | 20.46% | 145,028 |
Stanislaus | 41,908 | 43.57% | 46,091 | 47.91% | 2,967 | 3.08% | 1,385 | 1.44% | 2,732 | 2.84% | 1,111 | 1.15% | 0 | 0.00% | -4,183 | -4.35% | 96,194 |
Sutter | 5,782 | 29.85% | 12,024 | 62.08% | 620 | 3.20% | 242 | 1.25% | 463 | 2.39% | 239 | 1.23% | 0 | 0.00% | -6,242 | -32.23% | 19,370 |
Tehama | 5,000 | 32.48% | 9,010 | 58.54% | 361 | 2.35% | 254 | 1.65% | 537 | 3.49% | 230 | 1.49% | 0 | 0.00% | -4,010 | -26.05% | 15,392 |
Trinity | 1,833 | 37.23% | 2,421 | 49.17% | 272 | 5.52% | 140 | 2.84% | 165 | 3.35% | 93 | 1.89% | 0 | 0.00% | -588 | -11.94% | 4.924 |
Tulare | 21,294 | 34.07% | 37,172 | 59.48% | 1,090 | 1.74% | 1,208 | 1.93% | 1,180 | 1.89% | 553 | 0.88% | 1 | 0.00% | -15,878 | -25.41% | 62,498 |
Tuolumne | 6,846 | 38.16% | 9,251 | 51.56% | 773 | 4.31% | 328 | 1.83% | 476 | 2.65% | 267 | 1.49% | 1 | 0.01% | -2,405 | -13.40% | 17,942 |
Ventura | 83,557 | 43.21% | 91,193 | 47.16% | 6,563 | 3.39% | 5,787 | 2.99% | 3,733 | 1.93% | 2,483 | 1.28% | 71 | 0.04% | -7,636 | -3.95% | 193,387 |
Yolo | 21,983 | 47.43% | 17,484 | 37.72% | 4,934 | 10.64% | 543 | 1.17% | 842 | 1.82% | 566 | 1.22% | 1 | 0.00% | 4,499 | 9.71% | 46,353 |
Yuba | 3,447 | 29.71% | 6,904 | 59.50% | 428 | 3.69% | 249 | 2.15% | 373 | 3.21% | 202 | 1.74% | 0 | 0.00% | -3,457 | -29.79% | 11,603 |
Total | 3,533,490 | 47.26% | 3,169,801 | 42.40% | 393,036 | 5.26% | 161,203 | 2.16% | 128,035 | 1.71% | 88,415 | 1.18% | 2,331 | 0.03% | 363,689 | 4.86% | 7,476,311 |
Davis won 33 districts, while Simon won the other 20. [25]
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United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 2021, in two states, New Jersey and Virginia, and a recall election was held in California on September 14. These elections form part of the 2021 United States elections. The last gubernatorial elections for New Jersey and Virginia were in 2017, and the last regular gubernatorial election for California was in 2018. Going into the elections, all three seats were held by Democrats.
The 2022 California gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of California, with the statewide top-two primary election taking place on June 7, 2022. Incumbent Democratic Party Governor Gavin Newsom was re-elected to a second term after surviving a recall election in 2021, during his first term.
The 2021 California gubernatorial recall election was a special recall election that began in August 2021 and concluded on September 14, 2021, when California voters chose not to recall incumbent Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, elected for the term January 2019 to January 2023.