(FOX40.COM) — California hasn’t seen a gubernatorial primary this close since 1998, when an underdog defeated then-Rep. Jane Harman and wealthy businessman Al Checchi to win the Democratic nomination and, eventually, the governorship.

Who better to analyze this year’s close contest than that underdog — Gray Davis?

The former governor talked with Inside California Politics host Nikki Laurenzo this week about the state of the race. Davis said he won’t call on any Democratic candidates to drop out, despite urging from some party leaders for low-polling hopefuls to exit.

“Tons and tons of people asked me to drop out,” he said. “That obviously was fuel for the fire. I worked smarter, I worked harder, we got a lot of breaks and I ended up winning pretty handsomely.”

At this time in 1998, Davis said, he was polling in third place behind Checchi and Harman. (At the time, California did not have a top-two or “jungle” primary system.)

“If you’re not in the race, you can’t take advantage of the breaks when they come your way,” he said.

Davis said there are other ways to “organically” narrow the field, including donor consolidation behind frontrunners.

The former governor said he “almost certainly” won’t endorse, though he admitted he does have friends in the race. Those include Betty Yee (Davis’ finance director) and Antonio Villaraigosa (Assembly speaker under Davis).

Additionally, Davis said he isn’t in favor of eliminating the top-two primary system.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley also joined Inside California Politics this week, discussing the ongoing partial government shutdown, his decision to run for reelection as an independent and more.

Kiley weighed in on President Donald Trump’s recent executive order targeting mail-in ballots. The ex-Republican congressman said he doesn’t think the order will stand up in court.

“The answer is not a nationwide executive order, because that simply isn’t a power that rests with the executive branch,” he said.

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