Sharon Ryer Davis (born May 6, 1954) is an American author who served as first lady of California from 1999 to 2003. She is the wife of former California governor

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

. She previously served as second lady of California from 1995 to 1999. Davis is also a former Miss Santee and the author of the children's book, ''The Adventures of Capitol Kitty''.

Early life

Davis attended

Santana High School Santana High School, located in Santee, California, is part of the Grossmont Union High School District. History 2001 Shooting On March 5, 2001, at Santana High School, 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams shot and killed two students and injured ...

Santee, California Santee is a suburban city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 60,075 at the 2020 census. Although it is a part of the East County region, Santee is located just from the Pacific Ocean. The city is connected to the coastline ...

. While there, she entered the Miss Santee contest and won. Shortly after high school she began working at

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

as a

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

Marriage

Sharon met Gray Davis in 1979 while he was

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

for then

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

First Lady of California

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

, Davis was active in children's health and education, especially literacy, creating the Governor's Book Fund, which provided funds for school libraries. She wrote a children's book titled ''The Adventures of Capitol Kitty'' to help pay for the fund. She eventually helped raise 750,000 dollars. During the

2000 United States presidential election The 2000 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Republican Party (United States), Republican candidate George W. Bush, the gover ...

, her husband was rumored to be a potential vice presidential running mate for

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

, but Davis turned it down, with the position eventually going to Joe Lieberman. Davis was also rumored to be a potential presidential candidate in 2004. She left the office of First Lady in November 2003, after her husband's recall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Sharon 1954 births Living people First Ladies and Gentlemen of California American children's writers American beauty pageant winners American health activists California Democrats People from Santee, California American women children's writers People from Brentwood, Los Angeles Activists from California 21st-century American women