Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born policeman’s son-turned-actor who began his quest to be governor of California on late-night television, won the office late Tuesday, crafting a Hollywood ending to one of the most extraordinary political melodramas in the nation’s history. Voters rejected the embattled Gov. Gray Davis in a closely watched campaign, a referendum for change in the direction of the nation’s most populous state and its battered economy, the world’s fifth-largest.
MSNBC/2035000/2035552.jpg SCHWARZENEGGER was gracious in victory, offering to “extend the olive branch of political reconciliation” to his former opponents, and throwing down a challenge to those comfortable with governmental gridlock: “For the people to win, politiics as usual must lose.”
Davis became the first California governor pried from office and only the second nationwide to be recalled, in a remarkable campaign that featured one of the planet’s best-known entertainers and captivated an international audience.
By early Wednesday, tallies showed the recall was favored by 2,297,202 voters, or 54 percent, and opposed by 1,956,871, or 46 percent.
Other early returns had Schwarzenegger ahead with 1,890,134 votes; Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante with 1,231,546, Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock with 508,785; and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo with 98,901.
DAVIS CONCEDES
1087473 Davis, speaking about 90 minutes after the polls closed, sought to put the best face on defeat. “Thank you for having the wisdom to defeat Proposition 54,” he said, noting voters’ thumbs-down on the controversial racial-identification 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.
Speaking “with a heart full of gratitude and appreciation,” Davis acknowledged the people of the state. “I am so grateful to all of you and the people of California for the privilege and honor” of being governor for five years, he said.
“Tonight the voters decided it’s time for someone else to serve,” he said, interrupted by applause and cheers. “We’ve had a lot of good nights over the last 20 years, but the people did decide ... I accept their judgement.”
Dutifully, Davis promised to smooth the way for the next occupant of the governor’s chair. “I pledge to Mr. Schwarzenegger the full cooperation of my administration during the transition,” Davis said. “That’s the obligation of one governor to another; we’re going to do it.”
GROUNDSWELL OF DISCONTENT
Davis recited achievements of California under his stewardship, including higher public-school achievment scores “up five years in a row,” more scholarships, health care provided “for 1 million children that didn’t have it when I became governor, and “900,000 more jobs than when we started. There are many other things we fought for to make life better, for not just the few but for all the people who live in this state.”
Re-elected last November 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.
A total of 135 candidates lined up to replace him, including the Democratic lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamante, conservative Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo.
But the biggest name was Schwarzenegger, who was bedeviled in the campaign’s 11th hour by reports that he had groped women over decades.
After Davis’ concession, Schwarzenegger was introduced at a victory celebration in Los Angeles by Jay Leno, host of NBC’s “Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” the program on which Schwarzenegger formally launched his campaign Aug. 6. “This is a testament of how important just one appearance on the Tonight Show can be,” Leno said.
‘THE GREATEST GIFT’
Schwarzenegger was effusive with praise for the citizens who elected him. “You’ve received me, given me endless amounts of opportunity. California has given me absolutely everything. You’ve given me the greatest gift of all: You’ve given me your trust. I will not fail you, I will not disappoint you and I will not let you down.
“I received a very gracious phone call from Gov. Davis. I told my transition team to treat their counterparts with the utmost respect.” He said he intended to “call the leaders of the Legislature, and will let them know my door will always be open. .. I extend my hand to them. I need your help.”
Voters faced two questions — whether to recall Davis, and who among the other candidates should replace him if he was removed. On the first question, they voted a resounding “yes,” based on an exit poll survey of more than 2,800 voters conducted for The Associated Press and other news organizations by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.
About seven in 10 voters interviewed in exit polls said they had made up their minds how they would vote on the recall question more than a month before the election.
McCLINTOCK, BUSTAMANTE CONCEDE
After the election results became apparent, McClintock offered a concession speech. Calling Schwarzenegger, he said, “I pledged to him my wholehearted support in undertaking the great responsibilities that the people of California have entrusted to him.”
“This is a great day for the state of California,” McClintock said. “In response to a common danger, the people of California rose to their duties and ordered a new direction for our state.”
“I believe that our campaign acted as the conscience of this election,” he said. “The burden that now falls on our new governor is a heavy one and he’s going to need the active support of all Californians.”
Bustamante, acknowledging “a tremendous amount of support” in his failed campaign, put a positive spin on the outcome. “We have something to celebrate tonight. We have this victory on Proposition 54. ... The numbers we are seeing tonight say that we’re going to defeat Proposition 54 by a wide margin. This is a dramatic victory, it marks a dramatic turnaround for this state. Finally, California is saying ‘no more wedge politics.’
STRONG TURNOUT
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 turnout in last November’s gubernatorial election.
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 actor eschewed the usual political rally to announce his candidacy in August on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”
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.
SERIOUS BUSINESS
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.”
Cash-strapped California had only a few months to prepare for the special election, resulting in 10,000 fewer polling places than in past elections. Lines stretched outside many polling places, but many voters said they made it to the voting booth quickly, even if they had to wade through 135 names on the ballot.
Absentee voting was unusually high. California’s 58 counties were already processing the 2.2 million absentee ballots turned in before Tuesday; statewide, voters had requested 3.2 million absentee ballots, and many of these will not be counted until after election day.
“It’s below a presidential race, but we’re at the equivalent or higher than a gubernatorial race,” said Kristin Heffron, the chief deputy registrar in Los Angeles County.
LAST-DAY CONCERNS
Davis had fought to avoid becoming the nation’s first governor in 82 years to be recalled from office. He was elected to a second term just 11 months ago, but with less than 50 percent of the vote, dragged down by his personal unpopularity and voters’ anger over the state’s struggling economy.
Recent polls suggested voters favored throwing the Democratic incumbent out of office and installing the moderate Republican Schwarzenegger. But it was uncertain whether the “Terminator” star’s appeal had been tarnished by 11th-hour allegations that he groped women and spoke admiringly of Adolf Hitler.
Hundreds of Republican and Democratic party lawyers scoured polling places Tuesday for irregularities.
Democratic officials said they were especially concerned about potential problems in Los Angeles County, where most voters were using a punch-card ballot. The county is also using 60 percent fewer polling sites than in last November’s general election.
NBC EXIT POLL FINDS UNHAPPY VOTERS
Voters were already expressing opinions on other questions in early NBC News exit polling. The polls consistently found substantial voter discontent with Davis’ performance. The voters interviewed after casting their ballots Tuesday were also not pleased with the leadership that the Democratic incumbent has shown. Fully half of the voters said they strongly disapprove of the job that Davis has done as governor; nearly one in four somewhat disapproves of his work.
On the other side, just about one in four voters approves of the job Davis has done, with 7 percent giving him strong approval and 20 percent expressing a more reserved positive view.
By late afternoon, nearly three-quarters of voters — 72 percent — said they disapprove of the job Davis has done as governor.
Many voters had already voted using absentee ballots. But among those who voted in person thus far Tuesday, only 10 percent said they made up their minds in the past week. Fully 83 percent said they decided over a month ago.
The NBC News exit poll on the California recall election is based on interviews with voters outside polling places on Tuesday across the state, as well as with those who voted by absentee ballot.
The early exit poll data was based on interviews with more than 2,415 voters as they left 60 precincts across the state on Tuesday. In addition, the data includes the results of telephone interviews with 400 California citizens who voted via absentee ballots before Election Day. The telephone interviews were conducted from Sept. 29 through Oct. 5.
CHARACTER MATTERS
The final days of campaigning focused on character instead of issues, largely because of sexual misconduct allegations against Schwarzenegger, who acknowledged that he had “behaved badly” in the past but accused Davis of “dirty campaigning.”
That did not stop the Democratic Party machine, which has been running television ads asking women if they really wanted a governor who was facing allegations that he groped women. The impact of the issue was difficult to predict, however, because 2 million voters had already cast absentee ballots before the allegations surfaced Thursday.
Bustamante, the only prominent Democrat on the ballot, and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock remained the only other candidates polling in double digits.
LAST SUCCESSFUL RECALL IN 1921
The chaotic campaign, which survived a handful of legal challenges after a Republican-led effort brought it to the ballot, was without parallel in the Golden State.
Those who did turn out chose the ending of a saga that has captivated the nation for months. Lynn Frazier, the governor of North Dakota, and two other officials were recalled in 1921, Until Davis’ apparent defeat, Frazier was the only U.S. governor to ever be voted out of office in a special recall election.
There have been 31 previous attempts to force a recall vote in California, including three against Gov. Ronald Reagan in the 1960s. All but a handful failed to gather enough petition signatures to force an election.
SCHWARZENEGGER STRATEGY
With allegations dogging him that he had groped and sexually harassed as many as 16 women over the last three decades, Schwarzenegger spent the last day of campaigning Monday with his wife and other female supporters.
Later, in Huntington Beach, Schwarzenegger was joined at a rally by his mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who hugged and kissed him as he began speaking.
Scores of female supporters stood behind him at events, holding signs proclaiming “Remarkable Women Join Arnold.” As he took the stage at one event, the actor smiled broadly and said, “To all the incredible women, thank you.”
Schwarzenegger continued to hammer away at Davis, telling supporters in San Jose that he fell among a class of politicians who only knew how to “spend, spend, spend” and “tax, tax, tax.”
‘YOU CARRY ON’
For his part, Davis reached out to his core of labor support, marching Monday in San Francisco with hundreds of firefighters, most of them in blue “No Recall” T-shirts. Many in the crowd were out-of-state residents attending a safety conference.
“If you give me the chance to finish my term, I will do it with all the passion, all the humanity I can muster because my goal is to make your life better,” Davis told the crowd, which was chanting, “No recall! No recall!”
Davis’ popularity plunged following the downturn in the economy and the burst of the high-tech bubble in particular. Californians face an $8 billion state budget deficit, persistent unemployment and struggling schools.
MSNBC’s Ashleigh Banfield, David Shuster and Michael E. Ross, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.