The year was 1998. Bill Clinton was in the White House, Titanic was filling movie theaters and a startup with a funny name, Google, had just launched.
In California, voters were choosing their next governor.
There was a lot of anticipation about the political heavyweight and whether he would jump into the race. There was a rich businessman who couldn’t escape his unpaid advertisements on the radio. And the underdog who is always in the race against strong ideas and, apparently, common sense.
Those factors may well explain the current gubernatorial race, which, as it turns out, has widened since that swing campaign a generation ago.
Few expected the result, when Gray Davis swept to victory in the Democratic primary, then won the governorship in a landslide.
Less than three months before the June primary, Davis was dead last, trailing two well-heeled Democrats and the GOP nominee. The number of people who told him to stop would have filled the LA Coliseum, Davis recalled this week. But he did not think of giving up; the pressure only made him more determined.
Sometimes it’s meant to be. Sometimes you get every break,” Davis said. “Sometimes you don’t and you don’t get breaks.”
His conclusion: “Anything is possible.”
Of course, no two campaigns are the same.
The gubernatorial contest is conducted under a system where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance in November. In 1998, California held an “open forum,” under laws struck down by the Supreme Court. All candidates appear on the same ballot, with the top finishers in each group securing a place in November.
Besides, the world has changed a lot: politically, socially, culturally. (Google is now one of the most valuable companies in the world, pulling in a record $403 billion in revenue by fiscal year 2025.)
Voter attitudes are different. One of Davis’ greatest assets was his position as lieutenant governor; that currency – incumbency and government knowledge – no longer trades at the same high rate.
The state of the media is broken – back then newspapers set the political agenda, less than half of the electorate was online and broadcasting was largely watered down. Californians are not nearly as tuned into the governor’s race as they were back then.
“There’s a sideshow going on around the world and nationally and people are like, ‘Oh, right, there’s a governor’s race going on,'” said Paul Maslin, a former Davis pollster and now working for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Betty Yee. “Though in 1998, that was a big deal in town.”
Having said all that, luck and a good break or two are still key ingredients to political success, as Davis suggests.
In her case, the first stroke of luck was Dianne Feinstein’s decision not to run. (This is okay, it was former Vice President Kamala Harris who stalled the race until she dropped out.)
Feinstein, the senior U.S. senator, was nearly elected governor in 1990 and her lengthy negotiations stalled other potential contenders. Had Feinstein run, she likely would have ignored the field and made history by becoming the state’s first female governor.
Davis also benefited greatly when the federal court imposed stricter donation limits, which allowed him to go from collecting modest donations to much larger numbers. Although he was heavily used by his two wealthy Democratic opponents, billionaire Al Checchi and Rep. Jane Harman, the decision allowed Davis to continue to compete and ultimately pay for the most important statewide ad blitz in California.
Checchi, in particular, distracted voters with an endless flood of ads. (Shadows of the ubiquitous Tom Steyer.) In one of them, the scene attacking Harman, Checchi posted a photo of the lieutenant governor — not a bad looking one at that. The glimpse reminded voters that Davis, who was tending to his resources for a late-advertising opportunity, was still in the race. He enjoyed a significant rise in the polls.
Still, Checchi and Harman saw each other as arch-rivals and their strategists acted – and aligned their advertising and campaign messages – accordingly. The result was a “suicide of suicide, as the term went at the time,” said Garry South, who ran Davis’ campaign. “They decided to focus so much on each other and ignore us that we just fell into a hole.”
Davis can relate to those who hope to rule in the position he was in – he’s been fired, fired and bumped around the horse race polls. Speaking from his law office in Century City, he had this simple advice:
“Follow your heart,” he said. “Do what you think is right.”
“It’s nice for someone to tell you to get out, but that’s not their job,” Davis said. “You are the candidate, and if you think for any reason you want to stay in this race, you should stay in the race.”
The former governor, who was reinstated in 2003 by Arnold Schwarzenegger, acknowledged that his comments would not please Democrats worried about the party’s split, leading the two Republicans to advance to a November runoff.
But Davis isn’t too worried about what’s going on. What’s more, he said, it’s easy for bystanders to take potshots and offer unsolicited — and not particularly sympathetic — advice.
“They don’t run for office,” he said. “Some people put themselves on the line. . . . [If] people have, the courage and dedication needed to put themselves in the position to run for office, if they really believe it’s the right thing to do, they should. They should follow their dream.”
Besides, you never know what can happen in June.
