1998 California gubernatorial election
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| Turnout | 41.43% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Davis: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Lungren: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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The 1998 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 3, 1998, resulting in the election of Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis as the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years. Davis won the general election by an almost 20% margin over his closest opponent, Republican Attorney General Dan Lungren. Davis succeeded Pete Wilson who was term limited.
The 1998 California gubernatorial election featured the state's only gubernatorial blanket primary, a practice which was later struck down in United States Supreme Court in California Democratic Party v. Jones in 2000. The primary occurred on June 2, 1998. Davis defeated fellow Democrats Jane Harman and Al Checchi for the Democratic nomination. Davis received more votes than Dan Lungren who ran against less well-known opponents in the Republican primary. The primary set a record for spending in a California gubernatorial primary.
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Open primary
The Democratic field for the race became open when the state's most well-known and popular politician Dianne Feinstein decided in January 1998 not to run for Governor despite a request from President Bill Clinton. She decided not to run in the race because of the difficulty of campaigning, the "deteriorated" nature of California statewide campaigns, and her desire to continue her work in the Senate.[1] Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta also decided not to run.[2]
Al Checchi, a Democratic airline executive and political newcomer, was among the first to declare for the race. Gray Davis also declared around the same time. Congresswoman Jane Harman joined the contest in early April 1998. In early polling the three candidates were within 12 points of each other, with Davis in last.[3] Harman spent $14.4 million in her race for Governor.[4] Checchi spent just under $39 million on his campaign.[4] The airline executive's campaign included numerous ads, one of which included school children trying to pronounce his name and another with his wife speaking Spanish.[2] Checchi did not identify himself as a Democrat in most of his early campaign ads.[5] Harman briefly overtook Checchi in state polls but declined after Checchi launched a series of negative campaign ads against her.[6] Many of Feinstein's top campaign advisers worked for Harman during the Gubernatorial primary. Harman's campaign ran a biographical ad of her at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.[2]
Davis ran on the campaign slogan "experience money can't buy", and he promised to make education his top priority, which matched voters' concerns in exit polls. All three major Democratic candidates made education one of their top priorities in the campaign.[6] Davis was third in polling until the final week of the campaign, and because he had trouble raising money during the early months of the campaign, he did not run campaign ads early in the race as did Harman and Checchi.[2] Davis spent 9 million in total campaign funds in the primary[4] and later criticized Checchi for giving money to Republicans Steve Forbes and Bob Dole in 1996.[2]
Lungren spent $7.7 million in the primary.[4] Davis finished first in the primary, followed by Lungren, Checchi, and Harman.
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Candidates
Democrat
- Gray Davis, incumbent lieutenant governor
- Jane Harman, U.S. Representative
- Al Checchi, businessman
- Chuck Pineda Jr.
- Pia Jensen
- Michael Palitz
Republican
- Dan Lungren, incumbent attorney general
- Dennis Peron, businessman, veteran, and activist
- James D. Crawford
- Eduardo M. Rivera
- Jeff Williams
Green
- Dan Hamburg, former U.S. Representative
Libertarian
- Steve Kubby, businessman
Peace and Freedom
- Gloria La Riva, activist and perennial candidate
- Marsha Feinland, perennial candidate
American Independent
- Nathan E. Johnson
Natural Law
- Harold H. Bloomfield, author
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Primary results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gray Davis | 2,083,396 | 34.74 | |
| Democratic | Al Checchi | 748,828 | 12.49 | |
| Democratic | Jane Harman | 741,251 | 12.36 | |
| Democratic | Charles "Chuck" Pineda Jr. | 23,367 | 0.39 | |
| Democratic | Pia Jensen | 12,403 | 0.21 | |
| Democratic | Michael Palitz | 12,050 | 0.20 | |
| Republican | Dan Lungren | 2,023,618 | 33.75 | |
| Republican | Dennis Peron | 72,613 | 1.21 | |
| Republican | James D. Crawford | 28,881 | 0.48 | |
| Republican | Eduardo M. Rivera | 22,222 | 0.37 | |
| Republican | Jeff Williams[7] | 19,799 | 0.33 | |
| Green | Dan Hamburg | 92,298 | 1.54 | |
| Libertarian | Steve W. Kubby | 47,025 | 0.78 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Gloria Estela La Riva | 21,505 | 0.36 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Marsha Feinland | 15,572 | 0.26 | |
| American Independent | Nathan E. Johnson | 19,540 | 0.33 | |
| Natural Law | Harold H. Bloomfield | 12,422 | 0.21 | |
| Invalid or blank votes | 209,828 | 3.38 | ||
| Total votes | 6,206,618 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
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General election
Gray Davis won the general election by almost 20% over Dan Lungren. Davis outspent Lungren 28.6 million to 23.8 million.[4] Davis tried to portray Lungren as too conservative. In one debate, Davis attacked Lungren for voting no on a Safe Drinking Water Bill in the 1980s while Lungren tried to cast himself as the political heir of former California Governor Ronald Reagan. The policy differences between Davis and Lungren were substantial. Davis was pro-abortion in a staunchly pro-abortion state, and Lungren was anti-abortion. Lungren favored giving children abstinence only education. Both candidates were Roman Catholic. Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Bob Kerrey made campaign stops in California on Davis's behalf.[8][9] Davis succeeded in casting Lungren as too far right for California. Even normally conservative San Diego County went for Davis, and – foreshadowing their Democratic trends in the 21st century – the remote high mountain counties of Alpine and Mono backed a Democratic Governor for the first time since before 1950. Upon his victory, Davis promised he would focus his attention on education and would convene a special session of the legislature.[10] The race determined who would control reapportionment of congressional districts after the 2000 census.[6]
Results
Final results from the Secretary of State.[11]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gray Davis | 4,860,702 | 57.97 | |||
| Republican | Dan Lungren | 3,218,030 | 38.38 | |||
| Green | Dan Hamburg | 104,179 | 1.24 | |||
| Libertarian | Steve Kubby | 73,845 | 0.88 | |||
| Peace and Freedom | Gloria Estela LaRiva | 59,218 | 0.71 | |||
| American Independent | Nathan E. Johnson | 37,964 | 0.45 | |||
| Natural Law | Harold H. Bloomfield | 31,237 | 0.37 | |||
| No party | Write-ins | 21 | 0.00 | |||
| Invalid or blank votes | 235,925 | 7.24 | ||||
| Total votes | 8,621,142 | 100.00 | ||||
| Turnout | 41.43 | |||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
Results breakdown
Davis is the last Democratic gubernatorial nominee to have won Amador, Kings, Riverside, and Trinity Counties. Davis was the last Democrat until Jerry Brown in 2010 to carry Alpine, Del Norte, Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Santa Barbara Counties, the last until Jerry Brown in 2014 to carry Merced, Mono, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, and Ventura Counties, and the last until Gavin Newsom in 2018 to carry San Bernardino County.
| County | Davis | Votes | Lungren | Votes | Others | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 80.03% | 192,496 | 15.16% | 36,464 | 4.82% | 11,567 |
| Alameda | 73.47% | 282,297 | 22.58% | 86,745 | 3.95% | 15,195 |
| Marin | 68.94% | 70,108 | 26.94% | 27,392 | 4.11% | 4,193 |
| San Mateo | 68.43% | 142,144 | 28.52% | 59,249 | 3.05% | 6,320 |
| Los Angeles | 65.69% | 1,297,896 | 31.16% | 615,642 | 3.14% | 62,134 |
| Santa Cruz | 65.62% | 56,078 | 27.73% | 23,699 | 6.65% | 5,680 |
| Sonoma | 64.29% | 103,235 | 29.03% | 46,616 | 6.68% | 10,724 |
| Santa Clara | 64.28% | 270,105 | 31.66% | 133,015 | 4.05% | 17,056 |
| Yolo | 63.06% | 31,939 | 33.14% | 16,783 | 3.80% | 1,926 |
| Contra Costa | 62.82% | 190,200 | 34.25% | 103,686 | 2.93% | 8,867 |
| Solano | 62.81% | 63,791 | 33.76% | 34,288 | 3.43% | 3,480 |
| Napa | 59.86% | 25,809 | 35.24% | 15,193 | 4.90% | 2,112 |
| Monterey | 59.76% | 54,464 | 36.27% | 33,053 | 3.97% | 3,619 |
| Lake | 58.83% | 11,074 | 35.77% | 6,734 | 5.40% | 1,017 |
| San Benito | 57.42% | 7,531 | 37.87% | 4,967 | 4.71% | 618 |
| Sacramento | 57.37% | 206,870 | 39.65% | 142,970 | 2.98% | 10,721 |
| Mendocino | 57.37% | 16,450 | 30.20% | 8,659 | 12.43% | 3,563 |
| Imperial | 56.15% | 13,262 | 36.38% | 8,592 | 7.47% | 1,765 |
| Merced | 53.39% | 21,200 | 44.16% | 17,535 | 2.45% | 973 |
| Santa Barbara | 53.33% | 65,937 | 42.76% | 52,873 | 3.90% | 4,827 |
| Ventura | 52.95% | 110,226 | 43.76% | 91,093 | 3.30% | 6,851 |
| San Bernardino | 52.60% | 174,629 | 43.39% | 144,056 | 4.02% | 13,336 |
| San Joaquin | 52.03% | 64,377 | 45.62% | 56,447 | 2.35% | 2,911 |
| Del Norte | 51.34% | 3,820 | 41.49% | 3,087 | 7.16% | 533 |
| Humboldt | 51.22% | 23,880 | 37.88% | 17,658 | 10.90% | 5,081 |
| Riverside | 51.15% | 173,567 | 45.73% | 155,175 | 3.13% | 10,607 |
| Stanislaus | 50.69% | 50,793 | 47.00% | 47,095 | 2.32% | 2,322 |
| Alpine | 50.35% | 285 | 43.64% | 247 | 6.00% | 34 |
| Kings | 49.98% | 11,370 | 47.06% | 10,704 | 2.95% | 673 |
| San Diego | 49.45% | 364,169 | 46.28% | 340,834 | 4.27% | 31,423 |
| Amador | 49.20% | 6,614 | 48.19% | 6,478 | 2.61% | 351 |
| San Luis Obispo | 49.04% | 42,543 | 46.53% | 40,363 | 4.43% | 3,837 |
| Trinity | 49.01% | 2,447 | 43.42% | 2,168 | 7.56% | 378 |
| Tuolumne | 48.38% | 9,731 | 48.58% | 9,771 | 3.03% | 610 |
| Fresno | 47.68% | 82,293 | 49.46% | 85,369 | 2.86% | 4,946 |
| Mono | 47.35% | 1,641 | 47.32% | 1,640 | 5.34% | 185 |
| Yuba | 46.54% | 6,302 | 49.79% | 6,743 | 3.67% | 497 |
| Tehama | 46.02% | 8,561 | 50.23% | 9,343 | 3.75% | 698 |
| Butte | 46.00% | 30,184 | 49.86% | 32,717 | 4.14% | 2,716 |
| Lassen | 45.85% | 3,792 | 49.15% | 4,065 | 4.99% | 413 |
| Siskiyou | 45.54% | 7,493 | 49.23% | 8,100 | 5.24% | 861 |
| Calaveras | 45.46% | 7,358 | 50.35% | 8,150 | 4.18% | 678 |
| Inyo | 45.36% | 3,082 | 49.70% | 3,377 | 4.95% | 336 |
| Nevada | 44.98% | 17,522 | 50.62% | 19,720 | 4.40% | 1,717 |
| Orange | 44.69% | 318,198 | 52.07% | 370,736 | 3.23% | 23,126 |
| Tulare | 44.11% | 32,186 | 53.54% | 39,072 | 2.35% | 1,715 |
| Plumas | 43.99% | 3,764 | 52.26% | 4,472 | 3.75% | 321 |
| El Dorado | 43.84% | 25,429 | 52.64% | 30,534 | 3.51% | 2,037 |
| Colusa | 43.60% | 2,136 | 53.50% | 2,621 | 2.89% | 142 |
| Placer | 43.55% | 38,734 | 53.68% | 47,745 | 2.78% | 2,462 |
| Shasta | 43.28% | 23,076 | 52.76% | 28,130 | 3.97% | 2,109 |
| Sutter | 42.07% | 9,296 | 55.73% | 12,313 | 2.20% | 486 |
| Mariposa | 41.86% | 3,005 | 53.70% | 3,855 | 4.45% | 319 |
| Kern | 41.80% | 59,132 | 55.29% | 78,213 | 2.90% | 4,103 |
| Glenn | 41.74% | 3,150 | 54.86% | 4,140 | 3.40% | 256 |
| Sierra | 41.70% | 734 | 52.50% | 924 | 5.80% | 102 |
| Madera | 41.10% | 10,869 | 56.20% | 14,864 | 2.70% | 714 |
| Modoc | 40.74% | 1,428 | 52.95% | 1,856 | 6.30% | 221 |
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Source: "1998 California gubernatorial election", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 20th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_California_gubernatorial_election.
Further Reading
Gray Davis
2003 California gubernatorial recall election
1998 United States Senate elections
1992 United States Senate elections
Dan Lungren
John H. Cox
2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
2002 California gubernatorial election
2010 South Carolina gubernatorial election
2010 California gubernatorial election
1992 United States Senate special election in California
Ami Bera
Garry South
2018 United States Senate election in California
2022 United States gubernatorial elections
2017 Washington's 45th state senate district special election
2024 United States Senate election in California
2022 Maine gubernatorial election
References
- ^ "No California Gubernatorial Bid For Sen. Feinstein". CNN. Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
- ^ a b c d e "California Governor's Race Gets Tougher". Cnn.com. 1998-03-26. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "Millionaires Battle In California Governor's Primary". Cnn.com. 1998-04-06. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ a b c d e "Spending in the 1998 Governor's race". Sos.ca.gov. 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "The "Inside Politics" Interview: The California Governor's Race". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ a b c "Lt. Governor Wins Primary in California". Washingtonpost.com. 1998-06-03. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "Engineered Finishing Systems | Robotics & Automation". CCIS. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "Lungren, Davis Feisty In Debate Democrat scoffs as GOP hopeful invokes Reagan". Sfgate.com. 1998-10-16. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ Carla Marinucci (1998-07-28). "Lungren, Davis – Deep Divide Over Abortion: Candidates' religion is not common ground". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "Democrats' Sweep in California Could Have Lasting Impact". Washingtonpost.com. 1998-11-05. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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