Claim: Gray Davis was blamed.

Joseph Graham `` Gray '' Davis , Jr. -LRB- born December 26 , 1942 -RRB- is a retired American politician and attorney who served as the 37th Governor of California from 1999 to 2003 . A member of the Democratic Party , only months into his second term , in 2003 Davis was recalled and removed from office , the second state governor successfully recalled in U.S. history . Prior to serving as governor , Davis was chief of staff to Governor Jerry Brown -LRB- 1975 -- 81 -RRB- , a California State Assemblyman -LRB- 1983 -- 87 -RRB- , California State Controller -LRB- 1987 -- 95 -RRB- and the 44th Lieutenant Governor of California -LRB- 1995 -- 99 -RRB- . Davis holds a B.A. in history from Stanford University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School . He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as a Captain in the Vietnam War .   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 . Under Davis , California standardized test scores increased for five straight years . Davis signed the nation 's first state law requiring automakers to limit auto emissions . Davis supported laws to ban assault weapons and he is also credited with improving relations between California and Mexico . 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 . Voters were also alienated by Davis 's record-breaking fundraising efforts and negative campaigning .   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 . He was succeeded in office on November 17 , 2003 by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger , who won the recall replacement race . Davis spent 1,778 days as governor and signed 5,132 bills out of 6,244 , vetoing 1,112 bills . Since being recalled , Davis has worked as a lecturer at the UCLA School of Public Affairs , as an attorney at Loeb & Loeb and sat on the Board of Directors of the animation company DiC Entertainment .