2003 California recall

The 2003 California recall was a special election permitted under California law. It resulted in voters replacing sitting Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the summer and fall of 2003.

Recall campaign

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Official petition form circulated to call for a special recall election. The petition includes the proponents' grounds for recall as well as the Governor's rebuttal. (144KB PDF file)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On February 5, 2003, anti-tax crusader Ted Costa announced a plan to start a petition drive to recall Davis. Several committees were formed to collect signatures, but the Recall Gray Davis Committee created by conservative businessman Howard Kaloogian was the only one authorized by the state to submit signatures.

Related Topics:
February 5 - 2003 - Ted Costa - Petition - Recall Gray Davis Committee - Howard Kaloogian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
March 25 - 2003 - September 2

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
2004 - Democratic presidential primary election

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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.

Related Topics:
Darrell Issa - San Diego, California - May 6

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 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).

Related Topics:
California Secretary of State - Kevin Shelley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 7th. This was to be the second gubernatorial recall election in the United States history and the first in the history of California.

Related Topics:
July 23 - 2003 - Cruz Bustamante - October 7 - United States - 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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~