2003 California gubernatorial recall election

2003 California gubernatorial recall election

← 2002 October 7, 2003 2006 →
Turnout61.20%[1] Increase34.4pp
Vote on recall
Shall Gray Davis be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Yes 4,976,274 55.39%
No 4,007,783 44.61%
Valid votes 8,984,057 95.44%
Invalid or blank votes 429,431 4.56%
Total votes 9,413,488 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 15,380,536 61.2%

County results
Yes:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
No:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Replacement candidates

If Davis is recalled, who should replace him as governor?
Turnout61.20%
 
Candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger Cruz Bustamante Tom McClintock
Party Republican Democratic Republican
Popular vote 4,206,284 2,724,874 1,161,287
Percentage 48.6% 31.5% 13.4%

County results
Schwarzenegger:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Bustamante:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election

Gray Davis
Democratic

Governor after election

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Republican

The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003. Seven of the nine previous governors, including Davis, had faced unsuccessful recall attempts.[2]

After several legal and procedural efforts failed to stop it, California's first-ever gubernatorial recall election was held on October 7, and the results were certified on November 14, 2003, making Davis the first governor recalled in the history of California, and just the second in U.S. history (the first was North Dakota's 1921 recall of Lynn Frazier).[3] California is one of 19 states that allow recalls.[4] Nearly 18 years after the 2003 election, California held a second recall election in 2021; however, that recall was unsuccessful, failing to oust Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.[5]

  1. ^ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov. California Secretary of State. 2003. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  2. ^ "Complete List of Recall Attempts".
  3. ^ Baldassare, Mark; Katz, Cheryl (2008). The Coming Age of Direct Democracy: California's Recall and Beyond. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 11. ISBN 9780742538719. Retrieved May 20, 2012. gray davis lynn frazier.
  4. ^ Jennie Bowser. "Recall of State Officials". Ncsl.org. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  5. ^ White, Jeremy (March 16, 2021). "Newsom says California recall likely to qualify, tries to soften Feinstein stance". Politico.