Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. ( /djuːkˈmeɪdʒən/; born June 6, 1928) is an American politician who as a Republican served as the 35th governor of California (1983–1991) and as California Attorney General (1979–1983).

Deukmejian was born in Menands, New York, where he spent his childhood. His parents were Armenians who immigrated from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s; his father was born in Gaziantep and his mother in Erzurum. The family name "Deukmejian" originates from the Turkish language word "Dökmeci" which means "molder." His father was a rug merchant, while his mother worked in Montgomery Ward and later for New York State. Deukmejian graduated a B.A. in Sociology from Siena College in 1949. He then earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from St. John's University in 1952. From 1953 to 1955, he served in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps.

Deukmejian moved to California in 1955 where his sister, Anna Ashjian, introduced him to wife Gloria Saatjian, whose parents were also immigrants from Armenia. They married in 1957 and had three children: two daughters, born in 1964 and 1969 and one son, born in 1966.

Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003. Prior to serving as Governor, Davis served as Chief of Staff to Governor Jerry Brown (1975–1981), California State Assemblyman (1983–1987), California State Controller (1987–1995), and the 44th Lieutenant Governor of California (1995–1999). Davis holds a B.A. in history from Stanford University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as a Captain in the Vietnam War.

During his time as Governor, Davis made education his top priority and California spent eight billion dollars more than was required under Proposition 98 during his first term. Under Davis, California standardized test scores increased for five straight years. Davis signed the nation's first state law requiring automakers to limit auto emissions. Davis supported laws to ban assault weapons. He is also credited with improving relations between California and Mexico. Davis began his tenure as Governor with strong approval ratings, but those ratings declined as voters blamed Davis for the California electricity crisis and the California budget crisis that followed the dot-com bubble burst. Voters were also alienated by Davis’s record breaking fundraising efforts and negative campaigning.

Wally George, born George Walter Pearch (December 4, 1931 – October 5, 2003), was an American conservative radio and television commentator. Calling himself the "Father of Combat TV" he gained national fame hosting the television talk show Hot Seat, which began in 1983 as a local show produced for KDOC, a UHF TV station in Anaheim, Orange County, California.

Born George Walter Pearch in Oakland, California, his father Walter Pearch worked in the marine shipping industry. His mother Eugenia Clinchard had been a vaudeville performer and child movie actress in Essanay Studios westerns starring Broncho Billy Anderson. George grew up in San Mateo and was in high school when his parents divorced, after which his mother moved to the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.

At age 14 George was a disk-jockey at AM radio station KIEV in Glendale, California, followed by work at other radio stations in the state. In 1965 he was credited with writing an episode of the long-running television series Bonanza. In 1969 he launched The Wally George Show on FM radio station KTYM in Inglewood, California. Three years later he became producer and co-host of The Sam Yorty Show on Los Angeles television station KCOP with his political mentor Sam Yorty, who had been mayor of Los Angeles. By 1979 George had his own talk show at KCOP. This show later moved to KDOC in Anaheim where he launched Hot Seat in 1983. At this time KDOC had been on the air for a year and one of its early investors was singer Pat Boone.