California recall election, 2003

Infobox Election
election_name = California recall election, 2003
country = California
type = presidential
ongoing = no
previous_election = California gubernatorial election, 2002
previous_year = 2002
next_election = California gubernatorial election, 2006
next_year = 2006
election_date = October 7, 2003
colour1 = 228b22
nominee1 = Yes
popular_vote1 = 4,976,274
percentage1 = 55.39
colour2 = ce2029
nominee2 = No
popular_vote2 = 4,007,783
percentage2 = 44.61


candidate4 = Arnold Schwarzenegger
party4 = California Republican Party
popular_vote4 = 4,206,284
percentage4 = 48.58


candidate5 = Cruz Bustamante
party5 = California Democratic Party
popular_vote5 = 2,724,874
percentage5 = 31.47


candidate6 = Tom McClintock
party6 = California Republican Party
popular_vote6 = 1,161,287
percentage6 = 13.41
map_

---

map_size = 300px
map_caption = Recall question results by county
title = Governor
before_election = Gray Davis
before_party = California Democratic Party
after_election = Arnold Schwarzenegger
after_party = California Republican PartyThe 2003 California recall election was a special election permitted under California law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003. Other California governors, including Pat Brown, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, and Pete Wilson, had faced recall attempts, but these attempts were unsuccessful.

After several legal as well as 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 Lynn Frazier in 1921. A common misconception is that Arizona governor Evan Mecham was recalled in 1988. However, he was impeached before this qualified recall election could occur.) California is one of only 15 states that allows recalls. [ Anderson, Stepgen. "Hearsay: Living in a Gray area." Illinois Bar Association News. http://www.illinoisbar.org/Association/039-16f.htm.]

Background

California law

Any elected official may be the target of a recall campaign. To trigger a recall election, proponents of the recall must gather a certain number of signatures from registered voters within a certain time period. The number of signatures must equal 12% of the number of votes cast in the previous elections. For the 2003 recall elections, that meant a minimum of 900,000 signatures, based on the November 2002 statewide elections.

The effort to recall Gray Davis began with Republicans Ted Costa, Mark Abernathy, and Howard Kaloogian, who filed the petition with the California Secretary of State and started gathering signatures. The effort was not taken seriously, until Rep. Darrell Issa, who hoped to run as a replacement candidate for governor, donated $2 million towards the effort. This infusion of money allowed Costa and Kaloogian to step up their efforts. Eventually, about 1.6 million signatures were gathered, which was enough to trigger a recall.

Under most circumstances in which a recall campaign against a state wide elected official has gathered the required number of signatures, the governor is required to schedule a special election for the recall vote. If the recall campaign qualified less than 180 days prior to the next regularly scheduled elections, then the recall becomes part of that regularly scheduled elections. In the case of a recall against the governor, the responsibility for scheduling a special election falls on the Lieutenant Governor, who in 2003 was Cruz Bustamante.

Political climate

The political climate was largely shaped by the then-recent and costly California electricity crisis of the early 2000s, in which many saw their monthly energy bills triple in cost.

The public, due to the complex nature of the energy crisis, held Davis partly responsible. General speculation regarding the factors influencing the recall's outcome continues to center on the idea that Californians simply voted for a "change" —because Davis had mismanaged the events leading up to the energy crisis, e.g., Davis had not fought more vigorously for Californians against the energy fraud nor had he pushed for legislative or emergency executive action soon enough; because Davis had signed deals agreeing to pay energy companies fixed yet inflated prices for years to come based on those paid during the crisis; and/or because the fraudulent corporations had prevailed, and a corporate-friendly Republican governor could politically shield California from further corporate fraud. Others speculated that the corporations involved sought not only profit, but were acting in concert with Republican political allies to cause political damage the nationally influential Democrat governor. Still others, such as Arianna Huffington, argued that Davis's persistent fundraising and campaign contributions from various companies, including energy companies, made him unable to confront his contributors. [http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/01/27/power/]

Arguments about the recall drive

Backers of the recall effort cited Gray Davis's alleged "lack of leadership" combined with California's weakened and hurt economy. According to the circulated petition:

: [Governor Davis's actions were a] "gross mismanagement of California Finances by overspending taxpayers' money, threatening public safety by cutting funds to local governments, failing to account for the exorbitant cost of the energy, and failing in general to deal with the state's major problems until they get to the crisis stage."

Opponents of the recall said the situation was more complicated, for several reasons.

Firstly the entire United States and many of its economic trading partners had been in economic recession. California was hit harder than other states at the end of the speculative bubble known as the "dot-com bubble" — from 1996 to 2000 — when Silicon Valley was the center of the internet economy. California state expenditures soared when the government was flush with revenues. Some Californians blamed Davis and the state legislature for continuing to spend heavily while revenues dried up, ultimately leading to record deficits.

Secondly, the California electricity crisis of 2000-2001 caused great financial damage to the state of California. There is much consternation among the citizens of California regarding Davis' handling of the crisis; see that article for more. The legal issues still were not resolved in time to alleviate California's dire need for electricity, and the state instituted "rolling blackouts" and in some cases instituted penalties for excess energy use. In the recall campaign, Republicans and others opposed to Davis's governance sometimes charge that Davis "did not respond properly" to the crisis. In fact most economists disagree, believing that Davis could do little else-- and anyone in the Governor's office would have had to capitulate as Davis did, in the absence of Federal help. Federal assistance from the Bush administration was flatly rejected as "California's problem." Still, subsequent revelations of corporate accounting scandals and market manipulation by some Texas-based energy companies did little to quiet the criticism of Davis' handling of the crisis. See California electricity crisis for more discussion.

Furthermore, there is a high correlation between the success of the recall signature gathering effort and the inability for the California Legislature and the governor to agree on a new state budget. The new year's California budget was finally passed on August 1, 2003, several days "after" the recall was confirmed, and many believe the deadlock involved in the budget negotiations added fuel to the fire driving the recall effort. Some were further antagonized by the fact that the budget ultimately passed relied on loans and borrowing - which they said amounted to not fixing California's budget problems at all.

Additionally, many Republicans believe that California's taxes are too high, discouraging investment and driving businesses out of the state. Many candidates also criticized Davis' immigration policy, and were particularly enraged by Davis's seeming support of the court ruling striking down most of Proposition 187 as unconstitutional and his more recent support for issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

A perfect storm

Many other California governors have faced recall attempts and many others have governed through tough economic circumstances, but none ever faced a special recall election until Davis. Some political experts believe a "perfect storm" of circumstances led to the success of the recall drive.

Davis swept into the governor's office in 1998 in a landslide victory and a 60% approval rating as California's economy roared to new heights during the dot-com boom. Davis took his mandate from the voters and sought out a centrist position politically, refusing some demands from labor unions and teachers' organizations on the left. The Democratic Davis, already opposed by Republicans, began losing favor among members of his own party. Nevertheless, Davis' approval ratings remained above 50%.

When the California electricity crisis slammed the state in 2001, Davis was blasted for his slow and ineffective response. His approval rating dropped into the 30s and never recovered. When the energy crisis settled down, Davis' administration was hit with a fund-raising scandal. California had a $95 million contract with Oracle Corporation that was found to be unnecessary and overpriced by the state auditor. Three of Davis' aides were fired or resigned after it was revealed that the governor's technology adviser accepted a $25,000 campaign contribution shortly after the contract was signed. The money was returned, but the scandal fueled close scrutiny of Davis' fundraising for his 2002 re-election bid.

In the 2002 primary election, Davis ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. He spent his campaign funds on attack ads against California Secretary of State Bill Jones and Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, the two well known moderates in the Republican primary. The result was that his opponent in the general election was conservative Republican and political newcomer Bill Simon, who was popular within his own party but unknown by the majority of the state population. The intense criticism of both candidates caused Davis and Simon to run one of the most negative campaigns in recent state history.Fact|date=January 2008 The attacks on both sides turned off voters and suppressed turnout; Davis ultimately won with 47% of the vote as the "lesser of two evils."Fact|date=January 2008 The suppressed turnout had the effect of lowering the threshold for the 2003 recall petition to qualify.

On December 18, 2002, just over a month after being reelected, Davis announced that California would face a record budget deficit possibly as high as $35 billion, a forecast $13.7 billion higher than one a month earlier. The number was finally estimated to be $38.2 billion, more than all 49 other states' deficits combined. Already suffering from low approval ratings, Davis' numbers hit historic lows in April 2003 with 24% approval and 65% disapproval according to the California Field Poll. Davis was almost universally disliked by both Republicans and Democrats in the state and a recall push was high.

In summary, Davis alienated members of both political parties and was charged with ineffective leadership during the 2001 energy crisis and 2003 budget deficit. Combined with a personality sometimes described as "wooden" and "stiff" and some dubious campaign contributions, Davis faced a recall petition drive despite the lack of any proven misbehavior or criminal activity.

Recall campaign

On February 5, 2003, anti-tax activist Ted Costa announced a plan to start a petition drive to recall Davis. Several committees were formed to collect signatures, but Costa's Davis Recall Committee was the only one authorized by the state to submit signatures.

By law, the committee had to collect signatures from registered California voters amounting to 12% of the number of Californians who voted in the previous gubernatorial election (November 2002) for the special recall vote to take place. The organization was given the go-ahead to collect signatures on March 25, 2003. Organizers had 160 days to collect signatures. Specifically, they had to collect at least 897,158 valid signatures from registered voters by September 2, 2003.

The recall movement began slowly, largely relying on talk radio, a website, cooperative e-mail, word-of-mouth, and grassroots campaigning to drive the signature gathering. Davis derided the effort as "partisan mischief" by "a handful of right-wing politicians" and called the proponents "losers." Nevertheless, by mid-May recall proponents said they had gathered 300,000 signatures. They sought to gather the necessary signatures by July in order to get the special election in the fall of 2003 instead of March 2004 during the Democratic presidential primary election, when Democratic Party turnout would presumably be higher. The effort continued to gather signatures, but the recall was far from a sure thing and the proponents were short on cash to promote their cause.

The movement took off when wealthy U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican representing San Diego, California, announced on May 6 that he would use his personal money to push the effort. All told, he contributed $1.7 million of his own money to finance advertisements and professional signature-gatherers. With the movement accelerated, the recall effort began to make national news and soon appeared to be almost a sure thing. The only question was whether signatures would be collected quickly enough to force the special election to take place in late 2003 rather than in March 2004.

The Issa recall committee's e-mail claimed that California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, belonging to the same party as the Governor, resisted certification of the recall signatures as long as possible. By mid-May, the recall organization was calling for funds to begin a lawsuit against the secretary, and publicly considered a separate recall effort for the Secretary of State (also an elected official in California).

However, by July 23, 2003, recall advocates turned in over 110% of the required signatures, and the Secretary of State announced that the signatures had been certified and a recall election would take place. Proponents had set a goal of 1.2 million to provide a buffer in case of invalid signatures. In the end, there were 1,363,411 valid signatures out of 1,660,245 collected. The next day Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante announced that Davis would face a recall election on October 7. California's Constitution requires that a recall election be held within 80 days of the date the recall petition is certified, or within 180 days if a regularly scheduled statewide election comes within that time. Had the petition been certified at the deadline of September 2, the election would have been held in March 2004, the next scheduled statewide election. Instead, Bustamante chose a date 76 days from the date of certification, October 7. This was to be the second gubernatorial recall election in the United States history and the first in the history of California.

Later that month, the committee's periodic e-mail said that state funds were being illegally used to fight the recall effort. In particular, four million dollars of California State University funds were said to have been funded to educate union members in "Workers Against Recall" or "WAR." Recall supporters organized an authorized (licensed by local police) march opposite a hotel hosting a WAR seminar on August 15, 2003. News video showed a dozen union members with WAR t-shirts crossing the street and assaulting marchers, sending one to a hospital.Fact|date=January 2008

Voters' Right to Concurrent Alternatives in a Recall Election

On July 29, 2003, Federal judge Barry Moskowitz ruled section 11382 of the California election code unconstitutional. The provision required that only those voters who had voted in favor of the recall could cast a vote for a candidate for governor. The judge ruled that a voter could vote for or against the recall election and still vote for a candidate. [http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/6404985.htm] Secretary of State Kevin Shelley did not contest the ruling, thereby setting a legal precedent.

Election logistics

Availability of Spanish speaking poll workers

In August, a federal judge in San Jose announced that he was considering issuing an order postponing the recall election. Activists in Monterey County had filed suit, claiming that Monterey County, and other counties of California affected by the Voting Rights Act were violating the act by announcing that, because of budgetary constraints, they were planning on hiring fewer Spanish-speaking poll watchers, and were going to cut back by almost half the number of polling places. On September 5, a three-member panel of federal judges ruled that the county's election plans did not constitute a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Punch card ballots

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claimed that the use of the "hanging chad" style punch-card ballots still in use in six California counties (Los Angeles, Mendocino, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Solano) were in violation of fair election laws. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles ruled on August 20 that the election would not be delayed because of the punch-card ballots. The ruling was appealed, and heard by three judges in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 15 the judges issued a unanimous ruling postponing the recall election until March 2004 on the grounds that the existence of allegedly obsolete voting equipment in some counties violated equal protection, thus overruling the lower district court which had rejected this argument.

Recall proponents questioned why punch-card ballots were adequate enough to elect Governor Davis, but were not good enough to recall him. Proponents planned to appeal the postponement to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, an 11-judge panel, also from the ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals quickly gathered to rehear the controversial case. On the morning of September 23, the panel reversed the three-judge ruling in a unanimous decision, arguing that the concerns about the punch-card ballots were outweighed by the harm that would be done by postponing the election.

Further legal appeals were discussed but did not occur. The ACLU announced it would not make an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Davis was widely quoted in the press as saying "Let's just get it over with." Thus the election proceeded as planned on October 7.

Recall election

The ballot consisted of two questions; voters could vote on one or the other, or on both. The first question asked whether Gray Davis should be recalled. It was a simple yes/no question, and if a majority voted "no", then the second question would become irrelevant and Gray Davis would remain California governor. If a majority voted "yes", then Davis would be removed from office once the vote was certified, and the second question would determine his successor. Voters had to choose one candidate from a long list of 135 candidates. Voters who voted against recalling Gray Davis could still vote for a candidate to replace him in case the recall vote succeeded. The candidate receiving the most votes (a plurality) would then become the next governor of California. (It had previously been determined that Davis could not run as a candidate to succeed himself.) Certification by the Secretary of State would require completion within 39 days of the election, and history indicated that it could require that entire time frame to certify the statewide election results. Once the results were certified, a newly-elected governor would have to be sworn into office within 10 days.

As the mechanics of the recall became widely known, some observers noted that it could produce a seemingly undemocratic result. Davis would be removed from office if a simple majority of voters (50 percent plus 1 vote) chose "yes" on the recall question; but, with only a plurality required to choose his successor and more than two candidates running, the winner of the race to succeed him could end up with significantly less than 50 percent of the vote. For instance, if 51 percent of voters had voted "yes" on the first question, 49 percent would have tacitly voted for Davis for governor. If the leading candidate to replace Davis had received only 47 percent of the vote, he or she would have defeated the governor while receiving fewer votes. Ironically, Davis himself could have chosen to run and won the election with a small mandate after having been recalled by a large majority. Since Davis chose not to run, this turned out to be impossible.

Those Californians wishing to run for governor were given until August 9 to file. The requirements to run were relatively low and attracted a number of interesting and strange candidates. A California citizen needed only to gather 65 signatures from their own party and pay a nonrefundable $3,500 fee to become a candidate, or "in lieu" of the fee collect up to 10,000 signatures from any party, the fee being prorated by the fraction of 10,000 valid signatures the candidate filed. No candidate in fact collected more than a handful of signatures-in-lieu, so that all paid almost the entire fee. In addition, however, candidates from recognized third parties were allowed on the ballot with "no" fee if they could collect 150 signatures from their own party.

The low requirements attracted many "average joes" with no political experience to file as well as several celebrity candidates. Many prominent potential candidates chose not to run. These included Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, widely regarded as the most popular statewide office-holding Democrat in California, who cited her own experience with a recall drive while she was mayor of San Francisco. Darrell Issa, who bankrolled the recall effort and said he would run for governor, abruptly dropped out of the race on August 7 among accusations that he had bankrolled the recall effort solely to get himself into office. Issa claimed that Schwarzenegger's decision to run did not affect his decision and he dropped out because he was assured that there were several strong candidates running in the recall [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/08/MN36978.DTL] . The San Francisco Chronicle claimed that Davis's attacks on Issa's "checkered past" and polls showing strong Republican support for Schwarzenegger caused Issa to withdraw [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/08/MN36978.DTL] . Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (a fellow Republican) agreed that only one of them would run; when Schwarzenegger announced on "The Tonight Show" that he would be a candidate, Riordan dropped out of the race. Riordan was surprised and those close to him say angered when he learned Schwarzenegger was running despite Riordan's endorsement of Schwarzenegger [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/08/MN36978.DTL] . State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (a Democrat) announced on August 7 that he would be a candidate for governor. However, just two days later and only hours before the deadline to file, he announced "I will not engage in this election as a candidate," adding, "this recall election has become a circus." Garamendi had been under tremendous pressure to drop out from fellow Democrats who feared a split of the Democratic vote between him and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante should the recall succeed.

On September 3, five top candidates—independent Arianna Huffington, Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Green Party candidate Peter Camejo, Republican State Senator Tom McClintock, and former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth—participated in a live television debate. Noticeably absent was Arnold Schwarzenegger (as he has repeatedly stated that he would not participate in such events until later in the election cycle), who opponents charged was not adequately prepared. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/03/recall.debate/index.html] Prior to this first debate, Gov. Davis spent 30 minutes answering questions from a panel of journalists and voters.

Due to all of the media attention on the number of candidates, GSN held a game show debate entitled "Who wants to be Governor of California? - The Debating Game", a political game show featuring seven candidates unlikely to win the election, including former child star Gary Coleman and porn star Mary Carey.

Several candidates who would still be listed on the ballot dropped out of the campaign before the October 7 election. On August 23, Republican Bill Simon (the 2002 party nominee) announced he was dropping out. He said, "There are too many Republicans in this race and the people of our state simply cannot risk a continuation of the Gray Davis legacy." Simon did not endorse any candidates at the time, but several weeks later he endorsed front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger, as did Darrell Issa, who had not filed for the race. On September 9, former MLB commissioner and Los Angeles Olympic Committee President Peter Ueberroth withdrew his candidacy in the recall election.

On September 24, the remaining top five candidates (Schwarzenegger, Bustamante, Huffington, McClintock, and Camejo) gathered in the University Ballroom at California State University, Sacramento, for a live televised debate [http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030925-121959-4022r.htm] that resembled the red-carpet premiere of a movie in Hollywood. Schwarzenegger's marquee name had attracted large crowds, a carnival atmosphere, and an army of five hundred credentialed media and paparazzi from around the world [http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,12568,00.html] , including reporters and crews from infotainment shows such as "Entertainment Tonight", "Access Hollywood", "Extra", and the "E! Channel".

The aftermath of the debate was swift. On September 30, author Arianna Huffington withdrew her candidacy on the Larry King television program and announced that she was opposing the recall entirely in light of Arnold Schwarzenegger's surge in the polls. Apparently in response to her withdrawal, Cruz Bustamante endorsed her plan for public financing of election campaigns, an intended anti-corruption measure.

On October 7, the recall election was held, and voters decisively voted to recall Davis and to elect Schwarzenegger as his replacement. At 10 p.m. local time, Davis conceded that he had lost to Schwarzenegger, saying, "We've had a lot of good nights over the last 20 years, but tonight the people did decide that it's time for someone else to serve, and I accept their judgment." About 40 minutes later, in his acceptance speech, Schwarzenegger said, "Today California has given me the greatest gift of all: You've given me your trust by voting for me. I will do everything I can to live up to that trust. I will not fail you."

The result was officially certified on November 14 and Schwarzenegger was sworn in on November 17. 4,206,284 voters chose Schwarzenegger for governor, while 4,007,783 voted to keep Davis in office; thus, worries about a potentially anomalous result were assuaged.

Public opinion

Public opinion was divided on the recall with many passionately-held positions on both sides of the recall election. Californians were fairly united in their disapproval of Governor Davis's handling of the state with his approval numbers in the mid-20's. On the question of whether he should be recalled, Californians were more divided, but polls in the weeks leading up to the election consistently showed that a majority would vote to remove him.

Polls also showed that the two leading candidates, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat, and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, were neck and neck with about 25-35% of the vote each, and Bustamante with a slight lead in most pollsFact|date=August 2008. Republican State Senator Tom McClintock also polled in the double-digits. Remaining candidates polled in the low single digits. Polls in the final week leading up to the election showed support for Davis slipping and support for Schwarzenegger growing.

Many observers outside California, and some members of the press, consistently called the recall "chaos" and "madness" as well as a "media circus" and "nightmare." With the candidacies of a few celebrities and many regular Californians, the entire affair became a joke to some (there were tongue-in-cheek references to Schwarzenegger's science fiction film "Total Recall") as well as an "only in California" event. Nevertheless, most Californians took the recall seriously with the future of the Governor's office at stake. The election drew in many Californians who had never voted before Fact|date=February 2007 and voter registration increased. Fact|date=February 2007

California recall history

The recall process became available to Californians in 1911 by the Progressive Era reforms that spread across the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The ability to recall elected officials came along with the initiative and referendum processes. The movement in California was spearheaded by Republican then-Governor Hiram Johnson, a reformist, who called the recall process a "precautionary measure by which a recalcitrant official can be removed." No illegality has to be committed by politicians in order them to be recalled. If an elected official commits a crime while in office, the state legislature can hold impeachment trials. For a recall, only the will of the people is necessary to remove an official. [http://www.governor.ca.gov/govsite/govsgallery/h/documents/inaugural_23.html]

Before the successful recall of Gray Davis, no California statewide official had ever been recalled, though there had been 117 previous attempts. Only seven of those even made it onto the ballot, all for state legislators. Every governor since Ronald Reagan in 1968 has been subject to a recall effort, but Gray Davis was the first governor whose opponents gathered the necessary signatures to qualify for a special election. Gray Davis also faced a recall petition in 1999, but that effort failed to gain enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. The 1999 recall effort was prompted by several actions taken by Gray Davis, including: Davis's preventing the enactment of Proposition 187, by keeping it from being appealed to the US Supreme Court; also, Davis signed two new highly restrictive gun-control laws. (Note: Nearly all provisions of Prop. 187 were declared unconstitutional by the Federal District Court in Los Angeles, including the provision revoking U.S. citizenship for American-born children of illegal immigrants.)

Eighteen states allow the recall of state officials, but with Davis's recall, only two governors have ever been successfully recalled. The other occurred in 1921 when North Dakota's Lynn J. Frazier was recalled over a dispute about state-owned industries, and was replaced by Ragnvald A. Nestos. For more information about the 1921 North Dakota Recall, please see 1921 North Dakota recall. Gray Davis was the first California governor subject to a special recall election and the first to be successfully recalled.

Notable recall candidates

The October 7 recall election had many declared candidates, several of whom are prominent celebrities. In total, there were 135 candidates who qualified for the ballot in this election, including:

Republicans

*Tom McClintock, State Senator and current candidate for the United States House of Representatives
*Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hollywood actor
*Bill Simon, businessman, 2002 GOP candidate for governor (withdrew from race August 23, 2003)
*Peter Ueberroth, former MLB commissioner and president of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games organizing committee (withdrew from race September 9, 2003)

Democrats

*Cruz Bustamante, lieutenant governor
*Larry Flynt, publisher of "Hustler" magazine
*Garrett Gruener, Ask.com founder who spent $400 per vote received
*Bill Prady, Television Writer and Producer who pledged to solve all the state's problems "in twenty-two minutes and forty-four seconds with two commercial breaks and a hug at the end" [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=23145]
*Georgina Russell, Software Engineer, grabbed media spotlight by selling "Georgy for Governor" thongs

Greens

*Peter Camejo, 2002 Green Party candidate for governor
*Daniel Watts, a UCSD student who paid the candidate filing fee with money won on "Wheel of Fortune".

Independents

*Angelyne
*John Christopher Burton, Socialist Equality Party candidate
*Mary "Mary Carey" Cook, Porn Star
*Gary Coleman, actor
*Leo Gallagher, comedian
*Jack Grisham, Punk Rock vocalist for the band T.S.O.L..
*Arianna Huffington, columnist and author
*Kurt E. "Tachikaze" Rightmyer, Sumo wrestler
*Diane Beall Templin - American Independent Party candidate

Candidates who withdrew

*Arianna Huffington (withdrew September 30, 2003)
*Peter Ueberroth (withdrew September 9, 2003)
*Bill Simon (withdrew August 23, 2003)
*Scott Davis (withdrew August 21, 2003 amid stories that he was suspected of murder [http://politicalwire.com/archives/2003/08/21/its_getting_weirder_in_california.html] . He was indicted two years later [http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/11/19/news/state/20_51_0411_18_05.txt] , and convicted on December 4, 2006 [http://www.11alive.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=88578] , [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/06/48hours/main2655724.shtml] )

Results

The voters of California decided to recall governor Gray Davis by a margin of 55.4% in favor to 44.6% against. Voters elected Arnold Schwarzenegger to become Davis's replacement by a plurality of 48.6% to runner-up Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's 31.5%. Republican Tom McClintock received 13.5% and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo 2.8%. No other candidate polled more than 1%.

It was a two-question ballot, with the first question being whether the sitting governor should be recalled. The second question was to decide who ought to replace the governor, in case a majority voted "yes" on the recall question.

There were more votes for Schwarzenegger than for the next three candidates combined, including fellow Republican Tom McClintock. There were also more votes for Schwarzenegger than votes against recalling Davis (some were concerned beforehand that Davis's replacement might not reach this level).Who|date=June 2008

Following the election, all 58 of California's counties had 28 days (until November 4, 2003) each to conduct a countywide canvass of their votes. Counties used this time to count any absentee ballots or provisional ballots not yet counted, to reconcile the number of signatures on the roster of registered voters with the number of ballots recorded on the ballot statement, to count any valid write-in votes, to reproduce any damaged ballots, if necessary, and to conduct a hand count of the ballots cast in 1% of the precincts, chosen at random by the elections official.

Counties then had seven days from the conclusion of canvassing (November 11, 2003, 35 days after the election) to submit their final vote totals to the California Secretary of State's office. The Secretary of State had to certify the final statewide vote by 39 days (until November 15) after the election. The vote was officially certified on November 14, 2003. Once the vote was certified, governor-elect Schwarzenegger had to be sworn into office within ten days. His inauguration took place on November 17, making Schwarzenegger the 38th Governor of California.

{| border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"! colspan="5" | California gubernatorial recall election, 2003 [cite news |url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2003_special/ssov/recall_ques_sum.pdf |title=RECALL QUESTION: Statewide Summary |date=2004-03-11 |accessdate=2008-07-09 |format=PDF |publisher=California Secretary of State] cite news |url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2003_special/ssov/gov_sum.pdf |title=GOVERNOR: Statewide Summary |date=2004-03-11 |accessdate=2008-07-09 |format=PDF |publisher=California Secretary of State] [cite news |url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2003_special/reg.pdf |title=Report of Registration as of September 22, 2003 |date=2003-11-20 |accessdate=2008-07-09 |format=PDF |publisher=California Secretary of State]
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align="center"! colspan="3" |Vote on recall! style="width: 5em"|Votes! style="width: 7em"|Percentage
-
colspan=3 | Yes
align="right" | 4,976,274
align="right" | 55.39%
-
colspan=3 | No
align="right" | 4,007,783
align="right" | 44.61%
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
colspan="3" align="right" | Invalid or blank votes
align="right" | 429,431
align="right" | 4.56%
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
colspan="3" align="right" | Totals
align="right" | 9,413,488
align="right" | 100.00%
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
colspan="3" align="right" | Voter turnout
colspan="2" align="right" | 61.20%
-
colspan="5" style="height:0.3em"
- style="background-color:#3333FF"
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align="center"! colspan=2 style="width: 15em" |Party! style="width: 17em" |Candidate! style="width: 5em" |Votes! style="width: 7em" |Percentage
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Arnold Schwarzenegger
align="right" | 4,206,284
align="right" | 48.58%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Cruz Bustamante
align="right" | 2,724,874
align="right" | 31.47%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Tom McClintock
align="right" | 1,161,287
align="right" | 13.41%
-! style="background-color:#0BDA51; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Green
Peter Camejo
align="right" | 242,247
align="right" | 2.80%
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Arianna Huffington
align="right" | 47,505
align="right" | 0.55%
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Peter Ueberroth
align="right" | 25,134
align="right" | 0.29%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Larry Flynt
align="right" | 17,458
align="right" | 0.20%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Gary Coleman
align="right" | 14,242
align="right" | 0.16%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
George Schwartzman
align="right" | 12,382
align="right" | 0.14%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Mary Carey
align="right" | 11,179
align="right" | 0.13%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Bruce Margolin
align="right" | 9,188
align="right" | 0.11%
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Bill Simon
align="right" | 8,913
align="right" | 0.10%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Van Vo
align="right" | 7,226
align="right" | 0.08%
-! style="background-color:#FF3300; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Socialist Equality
John Burton
align="right" | 6,748
align="right" | 0.08%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
David Laughing Horse Robinson
align="right" | 6,496
align="right" | 0.08%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Leo Gallagher
align="right" | 5,466
align="right" | 0.06%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Cheryl Bly-Chester
align="right" | 5,297
align="right" | 0.06%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Lawrence Strauss
align="right" | 5,245
align="right" | 0.06%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Ronald Palmieri
align="right" | 4,221
align="right" | 0.05%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Calvin Louie
align="right" | 3,906
align="right" | 0.05%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Badi Badiozamani
align="right" | 3,404
align="right" | 0.04%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Audie Bock
align="right" | 3,358
align="right" | 0.04%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Ralph Hernandez
align="right" | 3,199
align="right" | 0.04%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Edward Kennedy
align="right" | 3,007
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Dan Feinstein
align="right" | 2,927
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Bob McClain
align="right" | 2,857
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
James Green
align="right" | 2,848
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Garrett Gruener
align="right" | 2,562
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Angelyne
align="right" | 2,536
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Paul Mariano
align="right" | 2,455
align="right" | 0.03%
-! style="background-color:#0BDA51; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Green
Ivan Hall
align="right" | 2,346
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Jim Weir
align="right" | 2,328
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Jerome Kunzman
align="right" | 2,317
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#FFCC00; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Libertarian
Ned Roscoe
align="right" | 2,250
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Georgina Russell
align="right" | 2,216
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Jonathan Miller
align="right" | 2,214
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Jack Grisham
align="right" | 2,200
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Christopher Sproul
align="right" | 2,039
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#0BDA51; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Green
Daniel Watts
align="right" | 2,021
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#FFCC00; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Libertarian
Ken Hamidi
align="right" | 1,948
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Marc Valdez
align="right" | 1,840
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Frank Macaluso
align="right" | 1,801
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Daniel Ramirez
align="right" | 1,778
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Randall Sprague
align="right" | 1,771
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Brooke Adams
align="right" | 1,713
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Mohammad Arif
align="right" | 1,709
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Nathan Walton
align="right" | 1,697
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#FFCC00; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Libertarian
John Hickey
align="right" | 1,689
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#111111; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Peace and Freedom
C.T. Weber
align="right" | 1,626
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Diana Foss
align="right" | 1,577
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Michael Wozniak
align="right" | 1,562
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
B.E. Smith
align="right" | 1,545
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Lingel Winters
align="right" | 1,466
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Richard Simmons
align="right" | 1,422
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Joe Guzzardi
align="right" | 1,419
align="right" | 0.02%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Mike McCarthy
align="right" | 1,351
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Art Brown
align="right" | 1,344
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Leonard Padilla
align="right" | 1,343
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#00BFFF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Natural Law
Iris Adam
align="right" | 1,297
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#0BDA51; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Green
Maurice Walker
align="right" | 1,236
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Trek Kelly
align="right" | 1,210
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Vikramjit Bajwa
align="right" | 1,168
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
David Sams
align="right" | 1,166
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#00BFFF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Natural Law
Darin Price
align="right" | 1,152
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FFCC00; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | American Independent
Charles Pineda
align="right" | 1,104
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
John Mortensen
align="right" | 1,078
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Sara Hanlon
align="right" | 1,077
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FFCC00; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | American Independent
Diane Templin
align="right" | 1,067
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Dick Lane
align="right" | 1,065
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jim Hoffmann
align="right" | 1,046
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
William Vaughn
align="right" | 1,028
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
C. Stephen Henderson
align="right" | 989
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Robert Newman
align="right" | 987
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jamie Safford
align="right" | 943
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Robert Mannheim
align="right" | 914
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Dorene Musilli
align="right" | 907
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Scott Mednick
align="right" | 903
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
A. Lavar Taylor
align="right" | 851
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Brian Tracy
align="right" | 842
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Kurt Rightmyer
align="right" | 837
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Christopher Ranken
align="right" | 823
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Sharon Rushford
align="right" | 821
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Darrin Scheidle
align="right" | 814
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Patricia Tilley
align="right" | 792
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Darryl Mobley
align="right" | 778
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Alex-St. James
align="right" | 771
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Bob Edwards
align="right" | 758
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Douglas Anderson
align="right" | 754
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Joel Britton
align="right" | 751
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Michael Jackson
align="right" | 746
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Ed Beyer
align="right" | 727
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Paul Mailander
align="right" | 715
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
John Beard
align="right" | 699
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Paul Nave
align="right" | 679
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Robert Cullenbine
align="right" | 632
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Warren Farrell
align="right" | 626
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Chuck Walker
align="right" | 623
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
William Chambers
align="right" | 610
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Vip Bhola
align="right" | 607
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Gerold Gorman
align="right" | 598
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Dennis McMahon
align="right" | 591
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
James Vandeventer
align="right" | 588
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Eric Korevaar
align="right" | 586
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Kelly Kimball
align="right" | 582
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Mike McNeilly
align="right" | 581
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
S. Issa
align="right" | 554
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Gino Martorana
align="right" | 532
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Richard Gosse
align="right" | 497
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Tim Sylvester
align="right" | 489
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Bill Prady
align="right" | 474
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Bryan Quinn
align="right" | 474
align="right" | 0.01%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jeffrey Mock
align="right" | 455
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Paul Vann
align="right" | 452
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Michael Cheli
align="right" | 451
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Heather Peters
align="right" | 444
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Jeff Rainforth
align="right" | 425
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Ronald Friedman
align="right" | 419
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Todd Carson
align="right" | 386
align="right" | 0.00%
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Scott Davis
align="right" | 384
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Daniel Richards
align="right" | 383
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Carl Mehr
align="right" | 376
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Lorraine Fontanes
align="right" | 365
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Gary Leonard
align="right" | 359
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Gregory Pawlik
align="right" | 349
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jon Zellhoefer
align="right" | 346
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Reva Renz
align="right" | 333
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Kevin Richter
align="right" | 305
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Stephen Knapp
align="right" | 298
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
William Tsangares
align="right" | 281
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Logan Clements
align="right" | 274
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Robert Dole
align="right" | 273
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
David Kessinger
align="right" | 261
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Gene Forte
align="right" | 235
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Todd Lewis
align="right" | 192
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Mathilda Spak (write-in)
align="right" | 16
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jason Gastrich (write-in)
align="right" | 11
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Monty Manibog (write-in)
align="right" | 11
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Thomas Benigno (write-in)
align="right" | 7
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
R. Charlie Chadwick (write-in)
align="right" | 7
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Shirley Coly (write-in)
align="right" | 5
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Jane Dawson (write-in)
align="right" | 5
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Pauline Cooper (write-in)
align="right" | 4
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Paul Walton (write-in)
align="right" | 4
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jim Trenton (write-in)
align="right" | 3
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Wignes Warren (write-in)
align="right" | 3
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Christy Cassel (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Jacques-André Istel (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Christian Meister (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Vincent Pallaver (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Lincoln Pickard (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Lynda Toth (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Donald Wang (write-in)
align="right" | 2
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Robert Gibb (write-in)
align="right" | 1
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Ronald Spangler (write-in)
align="right" | 1
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Bill Thill (write-in)
align="right" | 1
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Jurlene White (write-in)
align="right" | 1
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Joel Wirth (write-in)
align="right" | 1
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Donnie Adlen (write-in)
align="right" | 0
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#3333FF; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Democratic
Harry Braun (write-in)
align="right" | 0
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#DDDDDD; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Independent
Yancey Hawkins (write-in)
align="right" | 0
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Charles Hennegan (write-in)
align="right" | 0
align="right" | 0.00%
-! style="background-color:#FF3333; width: 3px"
style="width: 130px" | Republican
Ruth Sowby (write-in)
align="right" | 0
align="right" | 0.00%
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
colspan="3" align="right" | Invalid or blank votes
align="right" | 755,575
align="right" | 8.03%
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
colspan="3" align="right" | Totals
align="right" | 9,413,490
align="right" | 100.00%
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
colspan="3" align="right" | Voter turnout
colspan="2" align="right" | 61.20%
- style="background-color:#F6F6F6"! style="background-color:#FF3333"
colspan="4" | Republican gain from Democratic

Note that San Bernardino County did not report write-in votes for individual candidates.

References

External links

* [http://digilib.library.ucla.edu/campaign/web/2003_999_010/ Davis Recall] - Costa's Group
* [http://digilib.library.ucla.edu/campaign/web/2003_999_022/ Rescue California] - Issa's Group
* [http://www.recallgraydavis.com/ Recall Gray Davis Committee] - Kaloogian's Group

Recall information

* [http://vote2003.ss.ca.gov/Returns/summary.html Summary of returns]
* [http://vote2003.ss.ca.gov/ Statewide Special Election Results]
* [http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/recall.htm Recall information from CA Secretary of State]
* [http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/recall/story/7010413p-7771308c.html Newspaper article with recall history]
* [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.const/.article_2 Article 2 of the California state constitution] governs initiatives, referenda, and recall
* [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=elec&group=11001-12000&file=11381-11386 California Elections Code, ss. 11381 - 11386] govern the conduct of recall elections