Gray Davis

Gray Davis
Davis in 2010
37th Governor of California
In office January 4, 1999 – November 17, 2003
Lieutenant	Cruz Bustamante
Preceded by	Pete Wilson
Succeeded by	Arnold Schwarzenegger
44th Lieutenant Governor of California
In office January 2, 1995 – January 4, 1999
Governor	Pete Wilson
Preceded by	Leo T. McCarthy
Succeeded by	Cruz Bustamante
28th Controller of California
In office January 5, 1987 – January 2, 1995
Governor	George Deukmejian Pete Wilson
Preceded by	Kenneth Cory
Succeeded by	Kathleen Connell
Member of the California State Assembly from the 43rd district
In office December 6, 1982 – November 30, 1986
Preceded by	Howard Berman
Succeeded by	Terry B. Friedman
Chief of Staff to the Governor of California
In office 1975–1981
Governor	Jerry Brown
Preceded by	Edwin Meese
Succeeded by	B. T. Collins
Personal details
Born	Joseph Graham Davis Jr. (1942-12-26) December 26, 1942 (age 81) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sharon Ryer ​ (m. 1980)​
Education	Stanford University (BA) Columbia University (JD)
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1967–1969[1]
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Bronze Star

Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled and removed from office in 2003. He is the second state governor in U.S. history to have been recalled, after Lynn Frazier.

A member of the Democratic Party, Davis holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Stanford University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as a captain in the Vietnam War. Prior to serving as governor, Davis was chief of staff to Governor Jerry Brown (1975–1981), a California State Assemblyman (1983–1987), California State Controller (1987–1995) and the 44th lieutenant governor of California (1995–1999).

During his time as governor, Davis made education his top priority and California spent eight billion dollars more than was required under Proposition 98 during his first term. In California, under Davis, standardized test scores increased for five straight years.^[2] Davis signed the nation's first state law requiring automakers to limit auto emissions. Davis supported laws to ban assault weapons and is also credited with improving relations between California and Mexico.^[3] Davis began his tenure as governor with strong approval ratings, but they declined as voters blamed him for the California electricity crisis, the California budget crisis that followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble, and the car tax.

On October 7, 2003, Davis was recalled. In the recall election, 55.4% of voters supported his removal. He was succeeded in office on November 17, 2003, by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the recall replacement election. After being recalled, Davis worked as a lecturer at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and as an attorney at Loeb & Loeb.