Race and the Recall: The Role of Race in the California Recall Election
The 2003 Special Election in California that led to the recall of Governor Gray Davis and
the replacement election of Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the most interesting and
controversial elections to ever be held in the Golden State. The recall occurred just under a year
after incumbent Governor Davis had been reelected to a second term. Republican Congressman
Darrell Issa spent $1.8M of his own money to hire a professional firm to employ signature
gatherers who were paid $1-1.25 an hour to meet the state minimum of 900,000 signatures
needed to put the recall on the ballot (Bowler and Cain 2004: 8). The names of 135 Californians
appeared on the final ballot to replace Governor Davis. Actor and body builder Arnold
Schwarzenegger announced on the Jay Leno Show that he would be a candidate to replace
Governor Davis. Voters were required to cast two simultaneous ballots in this election: a yes or
no vote on whether to recall Governor Davis, and a separate vote for a replacement where the
name of Governor Davis could not appear. Although a majority of voters would be needed to
recall Governor Davis, the replacement candidate could be chosen by a simple plurality. The
election of 2003 contained little that was typical of most elections for statewide office, even in a
state as known for being out of the cultural mainstream as California.
There was, however, one aspect of the election that was also atypical and yet has received
must less attention by pundits, commentators, and scholars. The only serious Democratic
candidate to replace Governor Davis was Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, the first-ever
statewide elected Latino to hold office in California,
1
first elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002.
He was a former Speaker of the California Assembly and was known as a moderate Democrat.
Although the possibility that, if elected, he would be the most powerful Latino elected official in
1
Romualdo Pacheco, a Republican, was acting Governor of California in 1875. He was not chosen through a
popular election.
Convention