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.
Primary election
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]
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]
^Key: A – all adults RV – registered voters LV – likely voters V – unclear
^Total votes cast for candidates; does not include blank votes. The percentages in the Statement of Vote are based on this total, while the percentage for blank votes is calculated using the combined total of valid votes and blank votes.
^Maisel, Sandy. "Closing the Door on Moderation, One Seat at a Time." The Jewish Daily Forward. Friday, August 18, 2006. Accessed on August 13, 2007. http://www.forward.com/articles/1076/.
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