2002 California gubernatorial election

The 2002 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 5, 2002. Gray Davis, a Democrat and the incumbent governor of California, defeated the Republican challenger Bill Simon by 5% and was re-elected to a second four-year term. Davis would be recalled less than a year into his next term.

Primary elections were held in March. As a result of California Democratic Party v. Jones, the nonpartisan blanket primary was replaced by partisan primaries. Davis faced no major competitor in the Democratic primary and won the nomination. Simon defeated former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan in the Republican primary. Davis ran a series of negative advertisements against Riordan in the primary. Riordan was seen as a moderate and early state polls showed him defeating Gray Davis in the general election. This election is the last time that a gubernatorial candidate was elected governor of California by a single-digit margin.