Gray Davis was a politician.
The 1998 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 3 , 1998 , resulting in the election of Gray Davis , the state 's first Democratic governor in 16 years . Gray Davis . Prior to serving as governor , Davis was chief of staff to Governor Jerry Brown ( 1975 -- 81 ) , a California State Assemblyman ( 1983 -- 87 ) , California State Controller ( 1987 -- 95 ) and the 44th Lieutenant Governor of California ( 1995 -- 99 ) . On October 7 , 2003 , Davis was recalled in the second of three such elections in U.S. history , which include the removal of Lynn Frazier of North Dakota in 1921 and the unsuccessful recall of Scott Walker of Wisconsin in 2012 .