California's Gray governor

California Governor Gray Davis is a scrappier politician and fighter than often portrayed by commentators who say he is as colourless as his name suggests.

Gray Davis worked hard to secure good results in school and politics

He may have joked that he was charisma adviser for Al Gore, who was also perceived as distant and dull, but he easily won the governorship of the US' most populous state when he first stood in 1998.

Since then, the Golden State has had a mixed view of its elected leader, and though his commitments to providing opportunities to minority groups has been praised, he has also presided over an energy and then financial crisis.

He scraped back into the governor's mansion after the 2002 elections but just months later could be ousted by voters in the recall election.

Mr Davis, 60, adopted California as his home when he moved there with his family at the age of 11.

As a young man, he was a conscientious, hardworking student and was also diligent in honing his athletic skills, particularly in his beloved baseball.

GRAY DAVIS Born in New York City, 26 December 1942 Named Joseph Graham Davis Jr, nicknamed "Gray" by his mother Family moved to California in 1954 Studied history at Stanford University, then law at Columbia University Served in the army in Vietnam in 1968-69; rose to rank of captain and earned Bronze Star for meritorious service Chief of staff to California governor 1975-1981 Served in California state assembly 1983-1987 Elected lieutenant-governor in 1994 Won governorship in 1998, re-elected in 2002 Married, since 1983 to Sharon

He progressed through school, university and law school where his results were good but where he also revealed a less buttoned-down version of himself - sometimes.

In the early 1960s at Stanford University, one of the US' top colleges, he joined the Zeta Psi fraternity, known for its rabble-rousing and pranks.

But though he would join in some of the practical jokes, at other times he would try to dissuade his friends from whatever they were planning.

Perhaps he already had an eye on the future. Sharon, Mr Davis' wife since 1983, told the Los Angeles Times last year that there is an old photograph of a college toga party with everyone wearing a toga except for Mr Davis. She wondered whether he knew one day that such a picture could become public and possibly embarrassing.

1998 win

Mr Davis himself said he did not think of politics as a career until after he returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam in the late 1960s where he rose to the rank of army captain.

Mr Davis must go back to the voters in an unprecedented recall ballot

He entered public life soon after that and by 1998 was described by the San Jose Mercury News as "perhaps the best-trained governor-in-waiting California has ever produced" - a judgement quoted in his official biography.

The Democratic Party candidate arrived in the governor's mansion having won a strong victory in the state with 58% of the vote.

But the good times were about to come to a jarring end in California, which is also nicknamed "The Land of Milk and Honey".

An energy crisis hit the state, bringing a series of blackouts, and though a federal commission later found that a major energy company held back gas supplies to drive up prices, that may not help Mr Davis, whose reaction was seen as too passive.

Budget problems which are affecting many states have become particularly acute in California, where the nationwide slump hit its hi-tech industries hard. The state now faces a $38bn deficit.

Voter apathy

Mr Davis scraped home with 47% support of a record low turnout in his bid for re-election in 2002.

The "Fire Gray Davis" campaign of his Republican challenger foundered, not least because many voters were apathetic and others thought Mr Davis was merely the best of a bad lot.

Now Mr Davis' opponents are hoping to change apathy into anger as they seek to galvanise enough people to oust the governor in the unprecedented recall vote.

But some commentators note that Mr Davis is often at his best when facing danger.

Last year his team began work even as the Republicans were choosing their candidate to stand against him. The multi-million dollar advertising campaign during the Republican primaries attacked former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan - feared as the strongest challenger - and in the end he was not chosen to face Mr Davis.