Gray Davis, Jane Harman, and President Clinton,
21 July 1998.

Dan Smith. "Harman banking on bipartisan stance in governor's race." The Sacramento Bee, 283 (3 May 1998)
A1 & 22

In 1998, Harman gave up her congressional seat to run for governor of California. She lost to Gray Davis in the Democratic Primary. Although Davis won the election, he was recalled by the voters during his second term and succeeded by Republican Arnold A. Schwarzenegger.

In an interview with the Sacramento Bee during the campaign, Harman stressed her core Democratic principles and bipartisan approach to solving problems. "I don't think governance is about issuing position papers," she said. "Issuing a paper doesn't cause action to happen. Causing action to happen is what I'm about."