53 percent vote to recall Gov. Davis; he concedes at 10 p.m.

By Rory Sa

The end was first spotted last week when several polls indicated an overwhelming yea for the California recall election.

It appeared to be official after exit polls on CNN declared actor Arnold Schwarzenegger the governor-elect of California. By 10 p.m. the time came to make it official.

As he made his way across the stage at the Los Angeles Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Joseph “Gray” Davis shook the hands of friends and family.

He walked before the stage’s podium, overlooking a crowd of disappointed Democrats. About 55 percent of Californians had spoken: Gray Davis was recalled from his position as Governor of California. There was no malice in his voice as he began to speak.

“ The voters decided it was time for someone else to serve,” Davis said.

When his first step towards conceding the recall was met with boos from the audience, Davis pressed forward, saying, “That’s what the voters said.”

A teary-eyed Davis praised his supporters and made it clear that the will of the voters would be obeyed.

“ We’ve had a lot of good nights, but tonight the people decided it was time for someone else to serve, and I’ve accepted their judgment,” Davis said, signaling the end to a 28-year political career.

After 77 contentious days Davis conceded the recall election, and the governorship, to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Davis served in one capacity or another in California’s state government since 1974, when he served Governor Edmund Brown as executive secretary and chief of staff.

For the next 28 years Davis crawled up the political ladder, moving into the state assembly from 1983 to 1987, when he was elected state controller for two straight terms.

It’s ironic that a man who served two successful terms as California’s state controller would be destroyed by a broken economy.

His ascent to power continued in 1994, when he was won an overwhelming victory to become Lt. Governor then reached its pinnacle in 1998, when he became California’s 37th governor with 58 percent of the vote.

He spent several minutes detailing his successes over the last five years. He talked about raising achievement scores for students. He spoke of creating 300,000 new scholarships a year for students, and healthcare for 1 million children.

“ There are many other things we fought for and won to make things better, not just for a few but for everyone,” Davis said.

Yet these successes could not help Davis battle a shattered economy, an energy crisis and a complicated worker’s compensation system. Rumblings could be heard in 2002 when Davis won less than 43 percent of the vote in a lackluster election.

A movement to recall Davis grew from discontent Republicans to a wave of frustrated and disenfranchised voters.

The governor’s budget proposal in January further fueled the flames and by July enough signatures had been gathered for the recall process to begin.

Aug. 9 found the state burdened with 139 candidates, ranging from political pros Cruz Bustamante and State Senator Tom McClintock to sitcom star Gary Coleman, pornography publisher Larry Flint and adult film star Mary Cary.

But it was Aug. 6 when Davis’ greatest threat emerged on the Tonight Show, Arnold Schwarzenegger declared his candidacy in front of a nation-wide audience. Despite help from Bill and Hillary Clinton and Al Gore during the last weeks of the recall campaign, Davis was unable to defeat the recall.

For a race that grew fiercer as every week passed, the candidates were calm and graceful as they made their concession speeches.

A solemn Senator McClintock was the first major candidate to bow to the apparent governor-elect, coming out at 8:50 to thank his supporters. McClintock pledged his “whole-hearted support” to governor-elect Schwarzenegger. “It’s the first time we’ve ever recalled a governor, and the governor elect has a solid mandate from the voters,” he said.

Lt. Governor Bustamante did not concede the election in his initial speech at 9 p.m. The Lt. Governor told supporters that “rest assured we’re going to have a littler more to say about [the recall].”

Instead he focused on the defeat of Prop. 54, the Racial Privacy Initiative. It would be an hour and a half later when he finally conceded the race, just minutes before Schwarzenegger emerged to accept the mantle of Governorship.

“ As I see it, we campaign as partisans but we govern as Californians,” Bustamante said. “I know how to balance a budget and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

The recall results will not be official until November 15, the last day for California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to certify the results.

While the possibility of a second recall may loom over Governor-elect Schwarzenegger, current Governor Gray Davis will not support such moves, telling the angry supporters in front of him that the political standstill must end. “I’m calling for everyone in this state to do what’s right for this great state of California. I pledge to Mr. Schwarzenegger the full cooperation of my administration,” he said.

“ I am secure in the knowledge that whatever its challenges California is the greatest place on earth.”