<P> Petitions signed by California state voters equal in number to 12% of the last vote for the office of governor (with signatures from each of 5 counties equal in number to 1% of the last vote for governor in the county) can launch a gubernatorial recall election . The voters can then vote on whether or not to recall the incumbent governor, and on the same ballot they can vote a potential replacement . If a majority of the voters in the election vote to recall the governor, then the person who gains a plurality of the votes in the replacement race will become governor . </P> <P> The 2003 California recall began with a petition drive that successfully forced sitting Democratic Governor Gray Davis into a special recall election . It marked the first time in the history of California that a governor faced a recall election . He was subsequently voted out of office, becoming the second governor in the history of the United States to be recalled after Lynn Frazier of North Dakota in 1921 . He was replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger . </P> <P> The Lieutenant Governor of California is separately elected during the same election, not jointly as the running mate of the gubernatorial candidate . California has had a governor and a lieutenant governor of different parties 26 of the past 31 years . This occasionally becomes significant, since the California Constitution provides that all the powers of the governor fall to the lieutenant governor whenever the governor is not in the state of California, with the lieutenant governor often signing or vetoing legislation, or making political appointments, whenever the governor leaves the state . The lieutenant governor is also the President of the California State Senate . In practice, there is a gentlemen's agreement for the Lieutenant Governor not to perform more than perfunctory duties while the Governor is away from the state . This agreement was violated when Mike Curb was in office, as he signed several executive orders at odds with the Brown administration when Brown was out of the state . Court rulings have upheld the lieutenant governor's right to perform the duties and assume all of the prerogatives of governor while the governor is out of the state . </P> <Ul> <Li> Peter Burnett had the longest post-governorship, 44 years . He left office in 1851 and died in 1895 . </Li> <Li> Excluding governors who died in office, Robert Waterman had the shortest post-governorship . He died on April 12, 1891, a short three months and four days after the expiration of his term . </Li> <Li> Sworn in at the age of 30, J. Neely Johnson was the youngest governor from 1856 to 1858 . </Li> <Li> Sworn in at the age of 72, Jerry Brown became the oldest governor in 2011 . </Li> <Li> Earl Warren was the only governor to serve more than two consecutive terms in office (1943--1953). <Ul> <Li> Jerry Brown previously served as governor for eight years (1975--1983) and returned to office 28 years later to serve as the incumbent governor (since 2011). </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Milton Latham served the shortest term in office of five days (January 9--14, 1860). </Li> <Li> Of the 38 governors who held office, seven of them were born in California (six of them after statehood): <Ul> <Li> One (Romualdo Pacheco) was born in Santa Barbara . </Li> <Li> Four (George Pardee, James Rolph, Pat Brown, and Jerry Brown) were born in San Francisco . </Li> <Li> One (Hiram Johnson) was born in Sacramento . </Li> <Li> One (Earl Warren) was born in Los Angeles . </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Two governors were not born in the United States: <Ul> <Li> John G. Downey was born in Ireland . </Li> <Li> Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria . </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Only two governors have died in office: <Ul> <Li> Washington Bartlett on September 12, 1887 </Li> <Li> James Rolph on June 2, 1934 </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Ronald Reagan had the longest life - span of any governor, 93 years . </Li> <Li> J. Neely Johnson had the shortest life - span of any governor, 47 years . </Li> <Li> Both governors who died in office, Washington Bartlett in 1887 and James Rolph in 1934, served as Mayor of San Francisco shortly before becoming governor . </Li> <Li> Two governors are related: <Ul> <Li> Pat Brown (1959--1967) was the father of twice - governor Jerry Brown (1975--1983, 2011 to present). </Li> </Ul> </Li> </Ul>

How long does a govenor stay in office