Edmund G. Brown Jr. elected Mayor of Oakland. He promises to stop the stagnation which has plagued the city for many years. Death of Tom Bradley. Investigation of abuse by prison guards at Cocoran State Prison. Gray Davis elected first Democratic Governor of California in 16 years.
Voters approve initiative protecting casinos on Indian reservations.
New Museum of Technology dedicated in San Jose. Hollywood Ten turncoat Elia Kazan is awarded a controversial lifetime achievement award by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The national governing board of the Pacifica Network lock out employees of Berkeley's radio station KPFA, igniting a storm of protest by activists. Gray Davis angers reactionaries when he refuses to appeal a court decision calling Proposition 187 unconstitutional.