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| Turnout | 41.43% | ||||||||||||||||
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 County resultsDavis: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Lungren: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1998 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 3, 1998, resulting in the election of Lieutenant GovernorGray Davis as the state's firstDemocratic governor in 16 years. Davis won the general election by an almost 20% margin over his closest opponent,Republican Attorney GeneralDan Lungren. Davis succeededPete Wilson, who was term limited. The 1998 California gubernatorial election featured the state's only gubernatorialblanket primary, a practice which was later struck down in United States Supreme Court inCalifornia Democratic Party v. Jones in 2000.
The primary occurred on June 2, 1998. Davis defeated fellow DemocratsJane Harman andAl Checchi for the Democratic nomination. Davis received more votes than Lungren, who ran against less well-known opponents in the Republican primary. The primary set a record for spending in a California gubernatorial primary. Davis won 30 of California's 58 counties; no Democrat would win a majority of the counties again untilGavin Newsom in2018.[a] Davis carriedMono County by a single vote, becoming the first Democratic candidate to ever carry that county in a gubernatorial election.[b] This is the most recent gubernatorial election in which a Democrat carriedAmador County,Kings County,Riverside County, andTrinity County.San Bernardino County would not back a Democrat again until 2018.
The Democratic field for the race became open when the state's most well-known and popular politician, SenatorDianne Feinstein, decided in January 1998 not to run for governor despite a request from PresidentBill 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 StaffLeon 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 advertisings, 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 advertisings.[5] Harman briefly overtook Checchi in state polls but declined after Checchi launched a series of negative campaign advertisings 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 the1960 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 advertisings 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 RepublicansSteve Forbes andBob Dole in 1996.[2] Davis finished first in the primary, followed by Lungren, Checchi, and Harman. Lungren spent $7.7 million in the primary.[4]
| 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[8] | 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 | 5,996,790[c] | 100.00% | ||
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[d] | Margin of error | Dan Lungren (R) | Gray Davis (D) | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Field Institute[9] | October 26–28, 1998 | 809 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 43% | 50% | 7% |
| The Field Institute[9] | October 22–27, 1998 | 678 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 39% | 53% | 8% |
| Los Angeles Times[9] | October 17–21, 1998 | 883 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 42% | 53% | 5% |
| Mason Dixon[9] | October 11–13, 1998 | 820 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 42% | 48% | 10% |
| Public Policy Institute of California[9] | October 1–6, 1998 | 793 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 41% | 49% | 10% |
| The Fields Institute[9] | September 27 – October 5, 1998 | 703 (LV) | ± 3.7% | 42% | 48% | 10% |
| Public Policy Institute of California[9] | September 1–7, 1998 | 1,046 (LV) | ± 3.0% | 38% | 47% | 15% |
| The Field Institute[9] | August 18–24, 1998 | 625 (LV) | ± 4.1% | 37% | 49% | 14% |
| Mason Dixon[9] | July 26–28, 1998 | 832 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 39% | 48% | 13% |
| The Field Institute[9] | March 5–15, 1998 | 727 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 42% | 41% | 17% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gray Davis | 4,860,702 | 57.97% | +17.35% | |
| Republican | Dan Lungren | 3,218,030 | 38.38% | −16.80% | |
| Green | Dan Hamburg | 104,179 | 1.24% | ||
| Libertarian | Steve Kubby | 73,845 | 0.88% | −0.84% | |
| Peace and Freedom | Gloria Estela La Riva | 59,218 | 0.71% | −0.22% | |
| American Independent | Nathan E. Johnson | 37,964 | 0.45% | −1.09% | |
| Natural Law | Harold H. Bloomfield | 31,237 | 0.37% | ||
| Independent | Gale Shangold (write-in) | 16 | 0.00% | ||
| Independent | Phillip Ashamallah (write-in) | 3 | 0.00% | ||
| Independent | Holden Charles Hollom (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | ||
| Independent | Lark D. Jursek (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% | ||
| Invalid or blank votes | 235,925 | 2.73% | |||
| Majority | 1,642,672 | 19.59% | |||
| Total votes | 8,385,196[c] | 100.00% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | Swing | +34.15% | |||
| County | Gray Davis Democratic | Dan Lungren Republican | Dan Hamburg Green | Steve Kubby Libertarian | Gloria La Riva PFP | Nathan E. Johnson AIP | Harold H. Bloomfield NLP | Margin | Total votes cast[10] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Alameda | 282,297 | 73.47% | 86,745 | 22.58% | 6,919 | 1.80% | 3,041 | 0.79% | 2,727 | 0.71% | 1,130 | 0.29% | 1,378 | 0.36% | 195,552 | 50.89% | 384,237 |
| Alpine | 285 | 50.35% | 247 | 43.64% | 14 | 2.47% | 3 | 0.53% | 8 | 1.41% | 3 | 0.53% | 6 | 1.06% | 38 | 6.71% | 566 |
| Amador | 6,614 | 49.20% | 6,478 | 48.19% | 86 | 0.64% | 112 | 0.83% | 64 | 0.48% | 57 | 0.42% | 32 | 0.24% | 136 | 1.01% | 13,443 |
| Butte | 30,184 | 46.00% | 32,717 | 49.86% | 1,176 | 1.79% | 545 | 0.83% | 362 | 0.55% | 400 | 0.61% | 233 | 0.36% | -2,533 | -3.86% | 65,617 |
| Calaveras | 7,358 | 45.46% | 8,150 | 50.35% | 149 | 0.92% | 298 | 1.84% | 71 | 0.44% | 101 | 0.62% | 59 | 0.36% | -792 | -4.89% | 16,186 |
| Colusa | 2,136 | 43.60% | 2,621 | 53.50% | 36 | 0.73% | 39 | 0.80% | 33 | 0.67% | 27 | 0.55% | 7 | 0.14% | -485 | -9.90% | 4,899 |
| Contra Costa | 190,200 | 62.82% | 103,686 | 34.25% | 3,239 | 1.07% | 2,241 | 0.74% | 1,399 | 0.46% | 967 | 0.32% | 1,020 | 0.34% | 86,514 | 28.58% | 302,753[e] |
| Del Norte | 3,820 | 51.34% | 3,087 | 41.49% | 242 | 3.25% | 87 | 1.17% | 54 | 0.73% | 103 | 1.38% | 47 | 0.63% | 733 | 9.85% | 7,440 |
| El Dorado | 25,429 | 43.84% | 30,534 | 52.64% | 727 | 1.25% | 575 | 0.99% | 260 | 0.45% | 283 | 0.49% | 192 | 0.33% | -5,105 | -8.80% | 58,000 |
| Fresno | 82,293 | 47.68% | 85,369 | 49.46% | 962 | 0.56% | 1,257 | 0.73% | 1,421 | 0.82% | 918 | 0.53% | 388 | 0.22% | -3,076 | -1.78% | 172,608 |
| Glenn | 3,150 | 41.74% | 4,140 | 54.86% | 57 | 0.76% | 54 | 0.72% | 46 | 0.61% | 77 | 1.02% | 22 | 0.29% | -990 | -13.12% | 7,546 |
| Humboldt | 23,880 | 51.22% | 17,658 | 37.88% | 3,912 | 8.39% | 489 | 1.05% | 277 | 0.59% | 204 | 0.44% | 199 | 0.43% | 6,222 | 13.35% | 46,619 |
| Imperial | 13,262 | 56.15% | 8,592 | 36.38% | 202 | 0.86% | 161 | 0.68% | 1,033 | 4.37% | 225 | 0.95% | 144 | 0.61% | 4,670 | 19.77% | 23,619 |
| Inyo | 3,082 | 45.36% | 3,377 | 49.70% | 106 | 1.56% | 69 | 1.02% | 60 | 0.88% | 70 | 1.03% | 31 | 0.46% | -295 | -4.34% | 6,795 |
| Kern | 59,132 | 41.80% | 78,213 | 55.29% | 840 | 0.59% | 872 | 0.62% | 894 | 0.63% | 1,040 | 0.74% | 457 | 0.32% | -19,081 | -13.49% | 141,448 |
| Kings | 11,370 | 49.98% | 10,704 | 47.06% | 117 | 0.51% | 116 | 0.51% | 205 | 0.90% | 184 | 0.81% | 51 | 0.22% | 666 | 2.93% | 22,747 |
| Lake | 11,074 | 58.83% | 6,734 | 35.77% | 509 | 2.70% | 208 | 1.10% | 101 | 0.54% | 118 | 0.63% | 81 | 0.43% | 4,340 | 23.05% | 18,825 |
| Lassen | 3,792 | 45.85% | 4,065 | 49.15% | 83 | 1.00% | 77 | 0.93% | 77 | 0.93% | 130 | 1.57% | 46 | 0.56% | -273 | -3.30% | 8,270 |
| Los Angeles | 1,297,896 | 65.69% | 615,642 | 31.16% | 18,736 | 0.95% | 15,978 | 0.81% | 14,265 | 0.72% | 7,004 | 0.35% | 6,140 | 0.31% | 682,254 | 34.53% | 1,975,672[f] |
| Madera | 10,869 | 41.10% | 14,864 | 56.20% | 150 | 0.57% | 196 | 0.74% | 133 | 0.50% | 162 | 0.61% | 73 | 0.28% | -3,995 | -15.11% | 26,447 |
| Marin | 70,108 | 68.94% | 27,392 | 26.94% | 2,171 | 2.13% | 938 | 0.92% | 481 | 0.47% | 259 | 0.25% | 344 | 0.34% | 42,716 | 42.00% | 101,693 |
| Mariposa | 3,005 | 41.86% | 3,855 | 53.70% | 88 | 1.23% | 103 | 1.43% | 38 | 0.53% | 70 | 0.98% | 20 | 0.28% | -850 | -11.84% | 7,179 |
| Mendocino | 16,450 | 57.37% | 8,659 | 30.20% | 2,531 | 8.83% | 456 | 1.59% | 229 | 0.80% | 193 | 0.67% | 154 | 0.54% | 7,791 | 27.17% | 28,672 |
| Merced | 21,200 | 53.39% | 17,535 | 44.16% | 242 | 0.61% | 187 | 0.47% | 255 | 0.64% | 194 | 0.49% | 95 | 0.24% | 3,665 | 9.23% | 39,708 |
| Modoc | 1,428 | 40.74% | 1,856 | 52.95% | 45 | 1.28% | 41 | 1.17% | 39 | 1.11% | 71 | 2.03% | 25 | 0.71% | -428 | -12.21% | 3,505 |
| Mono | 1,641 | 47.35% | 1,640 | 47.32% | 60 | 1.73% | 55 | 1.59% | 21 | 0.61% | 24 | 0.69% | 25 | 0.72% | 1 | 0.03% | 3,466 |
| Monterey | 54,464 | 59.76% | 33,053 | 36.27% | 1,109 | 1.22% | 7.93 | 0.87% | 715 | 0.78% | 505 | 0.55% | 497 | 0.55% | 21,411 | 23.49% | 91,136 |
| Napa | 25,809 | 59.86% | 15,193 | 35.24% | 1,021 | 2.37% | 419 | 0.97% | 263 | 0.61% | 208 | 0.48% | 201 | 0.47% | 10,616 | 24.62% | 43,114 |
| Nevada | 17,522 | 44.98% | 19,720 | 50.62% | 875 | 2.25% | 399 | 1.02% | 168 | 0.43% | 146 | 0.37% | 129 | 0.33% | -2,198 | -5.64% | 38,959 |
| Orange | 318,198 | 44.69% | 370,736 | 52.07% | 6,622 | 0.93% | 6,512 | 0.91% | 4,235 | 0.59% | 2,950 | 0.41% | 2,807 | 0.39% | -52,538 | -7.38% | 712,060 |
| Placer | 38,734 | 43.55% | 47,745 | 53.68% | 747 | 0.84% | 710 | 0.80% | 343 | 0.39% | 370 | 0.42% | 292 | 0.33% | -9,011 | -10.13% | 88,941 |
| Plumas | 3,764 | 43.99% | 4,472 | 52.26% | 108 | 1.26% | 95 | 1.11% | 41 | 0.48% | 49 | 0.57% | 28 | 0.33% | -708 | -8.27% | 8,557 |
| Riverside | 173,567 | 51.15% | 155,175 | 45.73% | 2,463 | 0.73% | 2,275 | 0.67% | 2,728 | 0.80% | 1,936 | 0.57% | 1,205 | 0.36% | 18,392 | 5.42% | 339,349 |
| Sacramento | 206,870 | 57.37% | 142,970 | 39.65% | 3,344 | 0.93% | 2,525 | 0.70% | 2,290 | 0.64% | 1,544 | 0.43% | 1,018 | 0.28% | 63,900 | 17.72% | 360,561 |
| San Benito | 7,531 | 57.42% | 4,967 | 37.87% | 127 | 0.97% | 184 | 1.40% | 141 | 1.08% | 83 | 0.63% | 83 | 0.63% | 2,564 | 19.55% | 13,116 |
| San Bernardino | 174,629 | 52.60% | 144,056 | 43.39% | 2,982 | 0.90% | 3,177 | 0.96% | 3,229 | 0.97% | 2,441 | 0.74% | 1,507 | 0.45% | 30,573 | 9.21% | 332,021 |
| San Diego | 364,169 | 49.45% | 340,834 | 46.28% | 7,742 | 1.05% | 8,439 | 1.15% | 6,451 | 0.88% | 4,369 | 0.59% | 4,420 | 0.60% | 23,335 | 3.17% | 736,426[g] |
| San Francisco | 192,496 | 80.03% | 36,464 | 15.16% | 5,980 | 2.49% | 2,143 | 0.89% | 2,154 | 0.90% | 666 | 0.28% | 620 | 0.26% | 156,032 | 64.87% | 240,527[h] |
| San Joaquin | 64,377 | 52.03% | 56,447 | 45.62% | 715 | 0.58% | 653 | 0.53% | 705 | 0.57% | 523 | 0.42% | 315 | 0.25% | 7,930 | 6.41% | 123,735 |
| San Luis Obispo | 42,543 | 49.04% | 40,363 | 46.53% | 1,619 | 1.87% | 829 | 0.96% | 539 | 0.62% | 502 | 0.58% | 347 | 0.40% | 2,180 | 2.51% | 86,743[i] |
| San Mateo | 142,144 | 68.43% | 59,249 | 28.52% | 2,382 | 1.15% | 1,780 | 0.86% | 947 | 0.46% | 604 | 0.29% | 607 | 0.29% | 82,895 | 39.91% | 207,713 |
| Santa Barbara | 65,937 | 53.33% | 52,873 | 42.76% | 1,895 | 1.53% | 955 | 0.77% | 878 | 0.71% | 495 | 0.40% | 604 | 0.49% | 13,064 | 10.57% | 123,637 |
| Santa Clara | 270,105 | 64.28% | 133,015 | 31.66% | 4,992 | 1.19% | 5,395 | 1.28% | 3,083 | 0.73% | 1,720 | 0.41% | 1,865 | 0.44% | 137,090 | 32.63% | 420,176[e] |
| Santa Cruz | 56,078 | 65.62% | 23,699 | 27.73% | 3,007 | 3.52% | 1,179 | 1.38% | 687 | 0.80% | 355 | 0.42% | 452 | 0.53% | 32,379 | 37.89% | 85,457 |
| Shasta | 23,076 | 43.28% | 28,130 | 52.76% | 479 | 0.90% | 552 | 1.04% | 351 | 0.66% | 531 | 1.00% | 196 | 0.37% | -5,054 | -9.48% | 53,315 |
| Sierra | 734 | 41.70% | 924 | 52.50% | 29 | 1.65% | 45 | 2.56% | 11 | 0.63% | 12 | 0.68% | 5 | 0.28% | -190 | -10.80% | 1,760 |
| Siskiyou | 7,493 | 45.54% | 8,100 | 49.23% | 256 | 1.56% | 230 | 1.40% | 122 | 0.74% | 174 | 1.06% | 79 | 0.48% | -607 | -3.69% | 16,454 |
| Solano | 63,791 | 62.81% | 34,288 | 33.76% | 1,003 | 0.99% | 966 | 0.95% | 658 | 0.65% | 458 | 0.45% | 395 | 0.39% | 29,503 | 29.05% | 101,559 |
| Sonoma | 103,235 | 64.29% | 46,616 | 29.03% | 6,631 | 4.13% | 1,657 | 1.03% | 944 | 0.59% | 763 | 0.48% | 728 | 0.45% | 56,619 | 35.26% | 160,575[e] |
| Stanislaus | 50,793 | 50.69% | 47,095 | 47.00% | 549 | 0.55% | 543 | 0.54% | 457 | 0.46% | 535 | 0.53% | 238 | 0.24% | 3,698 | 3.69% | 100,210 |
| Sutter | 9,296 | 42.07% | 12,313 | 55.73% | 131 | 0.59% | 139 | 0.63% | 73 | 0.33% | 101 | 0.46% | 42 | 0.19% | -3,017 | -13.65% | 22,095 |
| Tehama | 8,561 | 46.02% | 9,343 | 50.23% | 152 | 0.82% | 170 | 0.91% | 141 | 0.76% | 179 | 0.96% | 56 | 0.30% | -782 | -4.20% | 18,602 |
| Trinity | 2,447 | 49.01% | 2,168 | 43.42% | 132 | 2.64% | 90 | 1.80% | 57 | 1.14% | 68 | 1.36% | 31 | 0.62% | 279 | 5.59% | 4,993 |
| Tulare | 32,186 | 44.11% | 39,072 | 53.54% | 353 | 0.48% | 493 | 0.68% | 363 | 0.50% | 373 | 0.51% | 133 | 0.18% | -6,886 | -9.44% | 72,973 |
| Tuolumne | 9,731 | 48.38% | 9,771 | 48.58% | 201 | 1.00% | 161 | 0.80% | 70 | 0.35% | 117 | 0.58% | 61 | 0.30% | -40 | -0.20% | 20,112 |
| Ventura | 110,226 | 52.95% | 91,093 | 43.73% | 2,049 | 0.98% | 1,616 | 0.78% | 1,449 | 0.70% | 911 | 0.44% | 826 | 0.40% | 19,133 | 9.19% | 208,170 |
| Yolo | 31,939 | 63.06% | 16,783 | 33.14% | 958 | 1.89% | 417 | 0.82% | 264 | 0.52% | 162 | 0.32% | 125 | 0.25% | 15,156 | 29.92% | 50,648 |
| Yuba | 6,302 | 46.54% | 6,743 | 49.79% | 127 | 0.94% | 106 | 0.78% | 108 | 0.80% | 100 | 0.74% | 56 | 0.41% | -441 | -3.26% | 13,542 |
| Total | 4,860,702 | 57.97% | 3,218,030 | 38.38% | 104,179 | 1.24% | 73,845 | 0.88% | 59,218 | 0.71% | 37,964 | 0.45% | 31,237 | 0.37% | 1,642,672 | 19.59% | 8,385,196 |
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 against a Safe Drinking Water Bill in the 1980s while Lungren tried to cast himself as the political heir of former California GovernorRonald Reagan. The policy differences between Davis and Lungren were substantial. Davis was pro-abortion rights in a staunchly pro-abortion-rights state, and Lungren wasanti-abortion rights. Lungren favored giving childrenabstinence only education. Both candidates wereRoman Catholic.Al Gore, Bill Clinton,Hillary Clinton, andBob Kerrey made campaign stops in California on Davis's behalf.[11][12]
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 — remote high mountainMono County backed a Democratic Governor for the first time ever, and adjacentAlpine County for the first time since1978. Upon his victory, Davis promised he would focus his attention on education and would convene a special session of the legislature.[13] The race determined who would control reapportionment of congressional districts after the 2000 census.[6]
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