Gray Davis

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 US history to have been recalled after Lynn Frazier of North Dakota 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 19751981 a California State Assemblyman 19831987 California State Controller 19871995 and the 44th lieutenant governor of California 19951999 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 Davis signed the nations 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 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 dotcom bubble and the car tax On October 7 2003 Davis was recalled In the recall election 554 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