I think it's pretty obvious from your previous recitation of the facts. Florida is a swing state that is balanced on a knife edge between Republicans and Democrats. It is also the critical state in deciding which party will win the Presidency. So huge amounts of money will be spent by both sides to try to win the governorship. At the moment Jeb Bush has a significant but not-insurmountable lead, due largely to his incumbency.
California has turned into a heavily Democrat state in which Republicans would require a major miracle to win. They have been given a minor political miracle, in that Gray Davis is one of the most corrupt and incompetent and despised governors in the state's history. Unfortunately for the Republicans they selected an incompetent, amateur candidate to oppose Davis. And Simon has been unable or unwilling to put enough of his own money into his campaign to compete with the enormous warchest Davis has extorted out of special interest groups.
If California had been a closely-balanced swing state like Florida, Davis would long ago have been toast, even given all of Simon's shortcomings as a candidate. Instead Davis has a substantial lead in a race which may or may not tighten up as we approach election day.