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1998 California gubernatorial election

none

Field	Value
election_name	1998 California gubernatorial election
country	California
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	1994 California gubernatorial election
previous_year	1994
next_election	2002 California gubernatorial election
next_year	2002
election_date	November 3, 1998
turnout	41.43%
image1	Gray Davis, portrait.jpg
nominee1	Gray Davis
party1	Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote1	4,860,702
percentage1	57.97%
image2	File:Dan Lungren (3x4a).jpg
nominee2	Dan Lungren
party2	Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote2	3,218,030
percentage2	38.38%
map_image
map_caption	Davis:
Lungren:
title	Governor
before_election	Pete Wilson
before_party	Republican Party (United States)
after_election	Gray Davis
after_party	Democratic Party (United States)

Lungren:
The 1998 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 3, 1998, resulting in the election of Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis as the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years. Davis won the general election by an almost 20% margin over his closest opponent, Republican Attorney General Dan Lungren. Davis succeeded Pete Wilson, who was term limited. The 1998 California gubernatorial election featured the state's only gubernatorial blanket primary, a practice which was later struck down in United States Supreme Court in California Democratic Party v. Jones in 2000.

The primary occurred on June 2, 1998. Davis defeated fellow Democrats Jane Harman and Al 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 until Gavin Newsom in 2018. Davis carried Mono County by a single vote, becoming the first Democratic candidate to ever carry that county in a gubernatorial election. This is the most recent gubernatorial election in which a Democrat carried Amador County, Kings County, Riverside County, and Trinity County. San Bernardino County would not back a Democrat again until 2018.

Primary election

The Democratic field for the race became open when the state's most well-known and popular politician, Senator Dianne Feinstein, decided in January 1998 not to run for governor despite a request from President Bill 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. Former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta also decided not to run.

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. Harman spent $14.4 million in her race for governor. Checchi spent just under $39 million on his campaign. 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. Checchi did not identify himself as a Democrat in most of his early campaign advertisings. Harman briefly overtook Checchi in state polls but declined after Checchi launched a series of negative campaign advertisings against her. Many of Feinstein's top campaign advisers worked for Harman during the Gubernatorial primary. Harman's campaign ran a biographical ad of her at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

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. 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. Davis spent 9 million in total campaign funds in the primary, and later criticized Checchi for giving money to Republicans Steve Forbes and Bob Dole in 1996. Davis finished first in the primary, followed by Lungren, Checchi, and Harman. Lungren spent $7.7 million in the primary.

Candidates

Democratic

Gray Davis, incumbent lieutenant governor
Jane Harman, U.S. Representative
Al Checchi, businessman
Chuck Pineda Jr.
Pia Jensen
Michael Palitz

Republican

Dan Lungren, incumbent attorney general
Dennis Peron, businessman, veteran, and activist
James D. Crawford
Eduardo M. Rivera
Jeff Williams

Green

Dan Hamburg, former U.S. Representative

Libertarian

Steve Kubby, businessman

Peace and Freedom

Gloria La Riva, activist and perennial candidate
Marsha Feinland, perennial candidate

American Independent

Nathan E. Johnson

Natural Law

Harold H. Bloomfield, author

Results

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s)
administered	Sample
size	Margin
of error	Dan
Lungren (R)	Gray
Davis (D)	Undecided
The Field Institute	October 26–28, 1998	809 (LV)	± 3.5%	43%		50%	7%
The Field Institute	October 22–27, 1998	678 (LV)	± 4.0%	39%		53%	8%
Los Angeles Times	October 17–21, 1998	883 (LV)	± 4.0%	42%		53%	5%
Mason Dixon	October 11–13, 1998	820 (LV)	± 3.5%	42%		48%	10%
Public Policy Institute of California	October 1–6, 1998	793 (LV)	± 3.5%	41%		49%	10%
The Fields Institute	September 27 – October 5, 1998	703 (LV)	± 3.7%	42%		48%	10%
Public Policy Institute of California	September 1–7, 1998	1,046 (LV)	± 3.0%	38%		47%	15%
The Field Institute	August 18–24, 1998	625 (LV)	± 4.1%	37%		49%	14%
Mason Dixon	July 26–28, 1998	832 (LV)	± 3.5%	39%		48%	13%
The Field Institute	March 5–15, 1998	727 (LV)	± 4.0%		42%	41%	17%

Results

Results by county

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	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Alpine
Amador
Contra Costa
Del Norte
Humboldt
Imperial
Kings
Lake
Los Angeles
Mendocino
Merced
Mono
Monterey
Napa
Riverside
Sacramento
San Benito
San Bernardino
San Diego
San Joaquin
San Luis Obispo
Santa Barbara
Santa Clara
Solano
Stanislaus
Trinity
Ventura

Analysis

Gray Davis won the general election by almost 20% over Dan Lungren. Davis outspent Lungren 28.6 million to 23.8 million. 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 Governor Ronald Reagan. The policy differences between Davis and Lungren were substantial. Davis was pro-abortion rights in a staunchly pro-abortion-rights state, and Lungren was anti-abortion rights. Lungren favored giving children abstinence only education. Both candidates were Roman Catholic. Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Bob Kerrey made campaign stops in California on Davis's behalf.

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 mountain Mono County backed a Democratic Governor for the first time ever, and adjacent Alpine County for the first time since 1978. Upon his victory, Davis promised he would focus his attention on education and would convene a special session of the legislature. The race determined who would control reapportionment of congressional districts after the 2000 census.

Notes

References

"No California Gubernatorial Bid For Sen. Feinstein".
(1998-03-26). "California Governor's Race Gets Tougher". Cnn.com.
(1998-04-06). "Millionaires Battle In California Governor's Primary". Cnn.com.
(2017-12-13). "Spending in the 1998 Governor's race". Sos.ca.gov.
"The "Inside Politics" Interview: The California Governor's Race". Cnn.com.
(1998-06-03). "Lt. Governor Wins Primary in California". Washingtonpost.com.
California Secretary of State. "Statement of Vote Primary Election June 2, 1998".
"Engineered Finishing Systems | Robotics & Automation". CCIS.
"CNN AllPolitics Election '98 - California 1998 Polls". [[CNN]].
California Secretary of State. "Statement of Vote General Election November 3, 1998".
(1998-10-16). "Lungren, Davis Feisty In Debate Democrat scoffs as GOP hopeful invokes Reagan". Sfgate.com.
Carla Marinucci. (1998-07-28). "Lungren, Davis – Deep Divide Over Abortion: Candidates' religion is not common ground". Sfgate.com.
(1998-11-05). "Democrats' Sweep in California Could Have Lasting Impact". Washingtonpost.com.

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