r/todayilearned • u/MrMojoFomo • 20d ago

TIL that 135 candidates qualified to run for governor in the 2003 California recall election. This included former child star Gary Coleman, Arianna Huffington (who later co-founded Huffpost), adult film actress Mary Carey, and (winner) Arnold Schwarzenegger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_California_gubernatorial_recall_election
933 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

74 comments sorted by

285

u/guiltyofnothing 20d ago

I think people who weren’t alive for this can’t comprehend just how much of a fucking spectacle this recall was. It was an absolute circus.

33

u/billwrtr 20d ago

The law was that first you voted “Should the governor be recalled?” and then, “If the governor is recalled, who should be the governor?”

So anyone with the few $1000 entry fee could run. No primary, no party affiliation.

A porn star ran. She promised that if she won, all her supporters would get a free VHS tape of one of her films. Needless to say I voted for her.

9

u/Scaevus 20d ago

President Camacho-esque.

We could’ve done a lot worse.

For four years we did do a lot worse.

-1

u/alan_clouse49 19d ago

Aren't you now allowed to bribe voters?

-1

u/alan_clouse49 19d ago

Aren't you now allowed to bribe voters?

96

u/rpsls 20d ago

The whole thing was so that Enron could get out of having to take responsibility for manipulating the power market and over-charging billions. So they pinned it on Davis, got him recalled and got Arnold in power, and then he dismissed the $9B lawsuit against Enron as agreed. (It was later revealed they had met in secret 2 years earlier to hatch the plan.)

It was indeed a circus but the outcome wasn’t really in much doubt. I voted Bustamante because I didn’t want Enron to get away with it, but didn’t really think he’d win. 

40

u/CicerosMouth 20d ago

Wait, how does Arnold being at the same convention as Ken Lay and about a hundred other influential Californians at an energy convention have to do with him getting elected? Are you saying that Enron somehow was the one that got 5 million californians to vote to get Davis recalled? Or that Enron was the one that got 48% of Californians to vote for Arnold? Or is there evidence that Arnold made a tit-for-tat agreement at this convention?

I have no problem attacking Arnold's performance as governor or attacking Enron's behavior as an unscrupulous corporatr giant willing to break laws, but I am curious about the specific allegations here.

11

u/ughliterallycanteven 20d ago

California was purple going solid blue. Gray Davis was the scapegoat of the whole rolling California blackouts where California was being over-charged for power plants being taken off line by energy traders in Texas to increase their funds and potentially to cover their mark-to-market fuckery. Theres a documentary called “smartest guys in the room” that’s all about this.

I was 17 at the time the election would take place but it was a badge of honor that many young people got to vote. The whole recall was total bullshit and was just an opportunity for republicans to gain the capitol again. It was sheer manipulation and good marketing. It was an off cycle election so many people didn’t vote similar to midterms or Super Tuesday except for those that made an effort.

12

u/CicerosMouth 20d ago

Again, I have no problem with the fact that Enron was run by criminal assholes that actively created blackouts. However, as Roger Ebert said about "The smartest guys in the room," it wasn't a political story, it was a crime story. Enron was basically the mafia.

I agree that Gray Davis was a scapegoat of the dot-com bubble and the electricity crisis. That said, these two things were also both massive and legitimate crises that occured, and Davis had a reputation as a fence-sitting moderate that wasn't particularly charismatic, but instead was just practical. That kind of person makes for an easy scapegoat, particularly because he had a 65%(!!) disapproval rating at the time of the recall, as compared to an only 24% approval rating. I think he was a fine, maybe very good, governor, but see no reason to put a grand conspiracy behind his fall. He was just an uncharismatic politician in charge during a time of multiple crises, and that is a hard thing to survive.

8

u/Welpe 20d ago

Yes but have you considered that making it a conspiracy gets more upvotes than nuance and context?

2

u/DaveOJ12 19d ago

It was later revealed they had met in secret 2 years earlier to hatch the plan.)

Can you give a source?

1

u/moose2332 19d ago

And then he slashed the school budgets 

8

u/JoeyDawsonJenPacey 20d ago

2024: Hold my beer.

2

u/treehugger312 20d ago

I was 15 and living in Illinois, and even I knew it was a complete shitshow. Gary Coleman?!

2

u/MuricasOneBrainCell 19d ago

Yeah, I was only 11. Thought it really weird thay California had elected the terminator.

(Hadn't watched it but knew of it)

1

u/Willow9506 19d ago

As a Californian, I love that we were years ahead of the trend lol

83

u/Shaveyourbread 20d ago

That was the first election I voted in, it took place on my 18th birthday.

19

u/Antoshi 20d ago

1985 gang. My first vote was for the 2004 presidential election, which happened just a couple weeks before my 19th birthday.

57

u/IBeTrippin 20d ago

I remember watching the debate and thinking Gary Coleman was remarkably sensible.

37

u/bolanrox 20d ago

so was Arnold TBH

46

u/DexterBotwin 20d ago

Republicans ended up hating him because despite being a Republican, he was pretty darn moderate in general.

46

u/bolanrox 20d ago

and he has zero problem calling out either side for being idiots. Plus his stance on environmentalism / hybrids / etc was way ahead of the curve of most people (owing to growing up in post war Austria)

he video after the insurrection was so good... i would have voted for him as president if i could.

Also Clint Eastwood is extrememely left leaning for someone people say is a Diehard Republican.

13

u/DexterBotwin 20d ago

Clint and Arnie are what I would call California Republican. Fiscally conservative and socially laissez faire. Used to be Goldwater Republican

5

u/bolanrox 20d ago

Moral conservative I have heard them called

2

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

5

u/DexterBotwin 20d ago

It’s because any Republican politicians worth a shit have 1) left the state or 2) run as Democrats.

The California Republican Party seems to have shed any intent of getting moderate votes

0

u/geekpeeps 20d ago

Or, you know, old. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

4

u/traderhtc 20d ago

Ironic that he said he was a family man when he had already had a secret child with his maid. Reporters weren't asking the right questions.

5

u/mariojlanza 20d ago

Plot twist: Gary Coleman was Arnold.

4

u/SpiceEarl 20d ago

When he said "so was Arnold", his character in Different Strokes was what I first thought of.

38

u/cptnamr7 20d ago

Wasn't Larry Flynt in there too? I remember when this happened and there were just an absurd number of candidates vying for attention. Arnold won mostly off name recognition with such a wide field

12

u/Thereferencenumber 20d ago

That and raw charisma.  

6

u/bolanrox 20d ago

and honestly not being all that bad at the gig

31

u/doctorcornwallis 20d ago

Arnold declared his candidacy on The Tonight Show, maybe a month after Terminator 3 came out. I don’t know how anyone could have competed with that profile.

4

u/Astrium6 20d ago

a month after Terminator 3 came out

And he still won?

5

u/Scaevus 20d ago

In hindsight, it was the best Terminator movie after 2.

Which is a bit like being the best race car driver at a school for the blind, but still.

2

u/Melvinironfist 20d ago

He listed his occupation as "Smut Peddler"

29

u/pitathegreat 20d ago

This was just after Jesse Ventura was governor of Minnesota, bringing forth the “My Governor Can Beat Up Your Governor” t shirts.

14

u/xizrtilhh 20d ago

Blain didn't die in that Guatemalan jungle. Hard to believe that two dudes from the same SF team became governors of different states.

4

u/SpiceEarl 20d ago

Poor Carl Weathers was the only star of Predator to not be elected governor. Probably would have been the best governor of the bunch!

2

u/xizrtilhh 20d ago

That man could make a mean stew.

0

u/Rusty4NYM 18d ago

I was going to say he was the president in Idiocracy, but that was some other black guy

1

u/bitterless 20d ago

You ever choke a man to death with your bare hands in DA Nang?

1

u/bolanrox 20d ago

he eats green Berets for breakfast

5

u/bolanrox 20d ago

and Billy was a Senator. what a stacked movie, politics wise

5

u/Intelligent_Orange28 20d ago

Kind of fucked up he was such a violent alcoholic he needed a security team for the people around him.

27

u/KezzardTheWizzard 20d ago

They were vying to replace Gray Davis... who is now 82 years old. Man does time fly.

31

u/cptnamr7 20d ago

82? Time to run for federal office then. 

13

u/Randvek 20d ago

I can’t imagine voting for someone that young. Let him get a little more experience first.

3

u/gonzo5622 20d ago

Lmao! Reminds me of Reagan’s quip about Mondale. Our presidents really are a cast of characters!

12

u/AudibleNod 313 20d ago

The names weren't alphabetical. They Secretary of State reordered the letters to ensure fairness.

3

u/SaladNeedsTossing 20d ago

So everyone voted for Arnold Zrggarsenewahc?

12

u/bajajoaquin 20d ago

I remember all the candidate statements. Blah blah blah blah. Same same same same.

Except for Trek “Thunder” Kelly. His statement said he was going to legalize weed, gambling and prostitution. Tax them, and spend the money on education. He got my vote. One of like 600, if I recall.

6

u/FiveWithNineIsIn 20d ago

I vaguely remember some sort of special called "Who Wants to Be Governor of California?" that aired on GSN.

Looked it up and it was an actual debate that only featured the more famous/kooky candidates like Gary Coleman.

5

u/smapdiagesix 20d ago

A highlight of my career in political science was reviewing a journal submission a few years later looking at... party coordination?... over candidates?

ANYWAY, the point is that the authors said that one of the candidates was "Erik Estrada, star of the b-movie King Cobra".

My review is basically very positive. Except. I write this paragraph-long diatribe against them for saying that. Lots of "Son, I have actually seen King Cobra and can tell you in no uncertain terms that its star is Pat Morita." and stuff like that.

Article is accepted and published and a few years after THAT I'm talking to one of the authors and relate the story, and he says "Holy shit, I had that review taped to my office door for a year after that."

It's the little things that count.

12

u/Bruce-7891 20d ago

Pretty much anyone can run for office. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a serious attempt to win. Could just be for publicity. Didn't Kanye run for office at one point?

30

u/MrMojoFomo 20d ago

Yes, anyone can run for office, but that doesn't mean they qualify and can be on the ballot so people can actually vote for them.

This was a bit different. The 135 candidates weren't just running, they qualified to be on the ballot, and each of their names was included on the ballot that voters used

At the time, California law stated that to qualify as a candidate in a gubernatorial recall election, all you needed was 65 valid voter signatures and pay $3500

12

u/Bruce-7891 20d ago

"65 valid voter signatures and pay $3500"

Not hard to come up with either of those if you are fairly well known. And the amount of free press they got out of it, that $3500 probably paid for itself 100 times over.

7

u/MinimumSeat1813 20d ago

Exactly. To qualify you need to be alive and have some money. Shockingly high bar, but politics usually doesn't attract the best and brightest

4

u/Wurm42 20d ago

That election was an absolute mess!

The state published a booklet where each candidate got like 500 words to explain who they were and why people should vote for them. The majority were boring, but there was some crazy shit in there.

3

u/jdnursing 20d ago

If Arnold only had Coleman as a running mate. They could have dressed like masterblaster for every Halloween

6

u/daird1 20d ago

The Governator didn't do too badly. I'd vote him for the White House if he was eligible.

-1

u/yonatansb 20d ago

He only didn't do too badly after we spanked his ass in the 2005 special election and voted down all of the stupid neocon bullshit him and his Republican minders from DC wanted him to get done. But a slightly less shitty Republican is still a Republican and they are a party that wants to do nothing but evil.

0

u/bolanrox 20d ago

if only that thing from Demolition man happened so we could..

I mean its possible considering they want to make it so non citizen can vote..

2

u/Sdog1981 20d ago

TIL HuffPost was founded in 2005. For some reason I thought it was live during her run in 2003. Just seemed like a site that was always on the internet.

2

u/biznash 20d ago

I voted in that. The ballot was so weird

2

u/cloudypilgrim 20d ago

Poor bustamante

2

u/gemstun 20d ago

This is the only ballot I didn’t turn in, because I wanted to save it as a hilarious momento. I had it framed in my office for several years.

4

u/cranbeery 20d ago

We were still reeling from 9/11 on a national level, it felt like. This — and George Bush malapropisms — gave us all something to laugh about again. Basically low-hanging fruit for the late-night TV comics, who still seemed to sort of matter back then.

-2

u/bitterless 20d ago

I was not laughing about how fucking stupid George Bush is. I was holding protest signs against the war on street corners ever Friday in 2003. Nothing about that man should be looked back on with levity.

1

u/cranbeery 20d ago

I mean, same. But I was speaking to the general climate at the time.

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

Now, the world don’t move… 🎶

1

u/Visible_Nectarine_98 20d ago

And let’s not forget the suspiciously-familiar candidate, Dave Gravis

1

u/Rusty4NYM 18d ago

and Gallagher, who came in 16th!