Total recall: It's Schwarzenegger

LOS ANGELES — Californians banished Gov. Gray Davis just 11 months into his second term and elected action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him yesterday — a Hollywood ending to one of the most extraordinary political melodramas in the nation's history.

Voters traded a career Democratic politician who became one of the state's most despised chief executives for a moderate Republican megastar who had never before run for office. Davis became the first California governor pried from office and only the second nationwide to be recalled.

"Tonight the people did decide it's time for someone else to serve and I accept their judgment," Davis told supporters in conceding. "I'm calling on everyone ... to put the chaos and division of the recall behind us and do what's right for this great state of California."

Schwarzenegger was introduced to a delirious crowd at his campaign headquarters by Jay Leno, on whose late-night show he announced his candidacy in August.

"Everything I have is because of California," Schwarzenegger said in claiming victory. "I came here with absolutely nothing, and California has given me absolutely everything. And today, California has given me the greatest gift of all, you have given me your trust by voting for me."

With about two-thirds of the ballots tallied, 2,663,985 voters — or 55 percent — favored the recall, and 2,187,853 — or 45 percent — opposed it.

Those returns had Schwarzenegger ahead with 2,258,349 votes; Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante with 1,480,574; Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock with 616,060; and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo with 124,012.

Schwarzenegger prevailed despite a flurry of negative publicity in the campaign's final days, surviving allegations that he had groped women and accusations that as a young man he expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler.

The 56-year-old Austrian immigrant — husband of television journalist Maria Shriver — finds himself in charge of the nation's most populated state with an economy surpassed by only five countries.

Schwarzenegger promised to return the shine to a Golden State beset by massive budget problems and riven by deep political divisions.

Voters faced two questions regarding the governorship — whether to recall Davis, and who among the other candidates would replace him if the recall passed. They chose to get rid of the incumbent and put Schwarzenegger in his place.

Exit polling explained why: Many Hispanics and union members — two keys to Davis' past electoral successes — deserted him as he suffered extraordinarily low job-approval ratings amid broad discontent about the state's economy.

Davis won election in 1998 with 70 percent support from Hispanics and a similar percentage of voters from union households, and he got about 65 percent of both groups in his re-election last year. But in the recall, about half of Hispanics and voters with union members in their households voted to recall Davis, according to voter surveys conducted for The Associated Press and other news organizations by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

Seven in 10 voters disapproved of how Davis was handling his job. Nearly half of all voters strongly disapproved, and among them, nine in 10 voted for the recall and seven in 10 voted for Schwarzenegger, the exit poll found.

Long lines were reported at polling places through the day. By late afternoon, Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state, said a turnout of 60 percent appeared likely, higher than the 50.7 percent who voted in last November's gubernatorial election. It would be the highest percentage to vote in a gubernatorial election since 1982.

Re-elected last year with less than 50 percent of the vote, Davis fell victim to a groundswell of discontent in a state that has struggled with its perilous financial condition.

As colorless as his name, Davis was also known as a canny politician with sharp elbows. Once chief of staff to Gov. Jerry Brown, he rose through the political ranks as a state assemblyman, controller and lieutenant governor, before becoming governor in 1999.

By contrast, Schwarzenegger's political inexperience seemed a virtue to many voters.

The campaign included a parade of bit players among the 135 candidates, including Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, former child actor Gary Coleman, a publicity-hungry porn actress who wanted to tax breast implants, and an artist who dressed in all blue and described his candidacy as the ultimate piece of performance art.

The cast of characters and outsized ballot gave the campaign a carnival-like atmosphere and provided late-night comics with a stream of material.

But to many Californians, it was serious business.

"I'm horrified at the thought that Schwarzenegger can be our governor," said Gretchen Purser, 25, of Berkeley, who voted against recall. "I'm sick of Republicans trying to take over the state."

Ed Troupe, 69, of Thousand Oaks, voted yes for recall and for Schwarzenegger. "As far as I'm concerned," he said, "Gray Davis is one of the dirtiest politicians I've ever encountered."

Though Schwarzenegger held a commanding lead over his rivals going into the final week, his campaign was shaken by allegations published in the Los Angeles Times just days before the election from six women who said he groped them or made unwanted sexual advances. Allegations continued to surface over the weekend, and by Election Day a total of 16 women had come forward.

Voters also rejected Proposition 54, a contentious initiative that would have banned state and local governments from tracking race in everything from preschools to police work. Voters across the racial spectrum rejected the measure, according to exit polling.

They also rejected another proposition dedicating money to public-works projects.

Davis' plight reverberated across the nation to the 18 other states that have initiative, referendum or recall provisions. If the state that brought us right-turn-on-red is again a pioneer, perpetual campaigns could become common.

Davis became only the second governor in U.S. history to be recalled, after North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921. The cost of the election to California taxpayers was estimated at $67 million.

The victor now faces daunting problems, including an ailing economy, a budget deficit now estimated at $8 billion and a tax-and-spending system many believe needs to be overhauled.

The recall movement was launched in February by grass-roots activists, angered over a tripling of the state vehicle-license fee and a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in student fees at state colleges and universities — measures taken at the start of the year to try to close a whopping $38 billion deficit.

The movement really took off when Darrell Issa, a conservative congressman from San Diego County, poured $1.7 million of his fortune into the campaign to get the measure on the ballot.

Criticism of Davis mounted, with recall proponents claiming he squandered the state's $10 billion surplus in 2000 and lied to voters last fall when he was running for re-election to conceal the dire state of the economy.

Democrats portrayed the recall as part of a nationwide GOP power grab and sought to keep other Democrats off the ballot. But party unity was shattered when Bustamante, a moderate from the agriculture-rich Central Valley with a history of chilly relations with his boss, abandoned his pledge not to run.

But it was Schwarzenegger who was the overpowering presence, even without the 22-inch biceps that made him Mr. Universe. Other GOP candidates such as businessman Bill Simon, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth and Issa dropped out of the race, with Simon and Issa endorsing Schwarzenegger.

In all, the candidates and the pro- and anti-recall campaigns raised at least $75 million.