Didn't he not run again and dump a huge deficit on Wilson?
Not that I know of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Deukmejian#cite_note-41"In 1983, Deukmejian abolished the Caltrans Office of Bicycle Facilities and reduced state spending for bicycle projects from $5 million to the statutory minimum of $360,000 per year.[32] In 1984, he vetoed A.B. 1, the first bill to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians, which passed the Legislature.[33]
Deukmejian with President Ronald Reagan at a presidential campaign rally in Fountain Valley, California in September 1984
In 1986, Bradley sought a rematch and Deukmejian defeated him by a 61% to 37% percent margin.[25] He was generally regarded as a moderate-to-conservative Republican.[16]
The Deukmejian administration entered office during a national economic recession.[34] He first halted the hiring of new state employees and banned out of state travel for those in government.[35] He rejected the legislature's demands for tax hikes, and pared $1.1 billion from its budget by selectively vetoing spending items.[36] One year later, further cuts, along with a nationwide economic rebound that benefited the state, created a billion dollar surplus for 1985.[37] His 1985 budget slightly increased spending in highway construction, but cut heavily into the education, health, Welfare and environmental budgets.[38] For this he was roundly criticized, and the cuts probably led to his low polling numbers at the end of his tenure as governor.[39][40]
Three years later, Deukmejian faced his own billion dollar deficit.[41] He supported a raise in the state minimum wage in 1989.[42]
Deukmejian largely made his career by being tough on crime.[16] When he was in the legislature, he wrote California's capital punishment law.[16] As a candidate for reelection, in 1986 he opposed the retention election of three Brown-appointed justices of the Supreme Court of California due to their consistent opposition to the death penalty in any and all circumstances.[43][25] One of them (the best known) was Rose Bird, the first female Chief Justice of the Court (and the first one to be voted off).[25] Deukmejian proceeded to elevate his friend and law partner, Malcolm M. Lucas, from Associate Justice to Chief Justice, and appointed three new associate justices.[6] Under Deukmejian, the California prison population nearly tripled — as of December 31, 1982, the total prison population stood at 34,640 inmates.[34] He increased spending for the building of new prisons.[34]"
