Editing Gray Davis (section)

==1992 U.S. Senate campaign==
Davis ran against San Francisco mayor [[Dianne Feinstein]] for the Democratic nomination for the [[United States Senate]] in the [[1992 United States Senate special election in California|1992 special election]] to fill the Senate seat vacated by [[Pete Wilson]] who was elected [[Governor of California]] in 1990.

The race is often cited as an example of Davis's history of negative campaign tactics.<ref name="LGOV">[http://www.calvoter.org/archive/94general/cand/lt/journal.html The Race for Lieutenant Governor: Democrat Gray Davis and Republican Cathie Wright vie to serve a heartbeat away] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510020727/http://www.calvoter.org/archive/94general/cand/lt/journal.html |date=2011-05-10 }} by Borland, John. The California Journal. Copyright California Voter Foundation 1994. Retrieved September 7, 2007.</ref> The Davis campaign featured an ad that compared Feinstein to the incarcerated hotelier [[Leona Helmsley]].<ref name="Style">Chorneau, Tom. "Gray Davis’ downfall rooted in his personality and political style." The Associated Press State & Local Wire. October 9, 2003. Copyrighted 2003 Associated Press. Accessed on LexisNexis August 10, 2007</ref> Some experts consider that ad to be the most negative in state history.<ref name="DiFi">Chorneau, Tom. "Feinstein takes on role as Davis’ chief defender." Associated Press State & Local Wire. September 3, 2003. Copyright 2003 Associated Press. Accessed on LexisNexis on August 11, 2007.</ref> The ad backfired with Davis losing to Feinstein by a significant margin for the nomination although this loss did not stop Davis from using negative campaign ads in the future, including in his race for lieutenant governor.<ref name="LGOV" />

Davis blamed his campaign managers for the defeat and vowed not to let major decisions in future campaigns be decided by his campaign staff.<ref name="Style" /> In 2003, when Feinstein urged voters to vote no during the recall election, she was constantly reminded through questions, video and the media about the 1992 primary.<ref name="DiFi" />