Gray Davis was a governor.
Joseph Graham `` Gray '' Davis , Jr. ( born December 26 , 1942 ) is a retired American politician and attorney who served as the 37th Governor of California from 1999 to 2003 . 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 ) . During his time as governor , Davis made education his top priority and California spent eight billion dollars more than was required under Proposition 98 during his first term . Davis began his tenure as governor with strong approval ratings , but those ratings declined as voters blamed Davis for the California electricity crisis and the California budget crisis that followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble . Davis spent 1,778 days as governor and signed 5,132 bills out of 6,244 , vetoing 1,112 bills .