Arnold Schwarzenegger became the next governor of California
Tuesday night as voters decided to recall incumbent Gov. Gray Davis
from office and replace him with the businessman and movie
star-turned-politician. With 60.4 percent of precincts reporting as
of early Wednesday morning, 54.9 percent of voters favored
recalling Davis and 48.5 percent voted for Schwarzenegger as the
governor’s replacement. Lt Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the only
other candidate many political analysts said stood a chance of
replacing Davis, received 31.9 percent of the vote.
Schwarzenegger’s wide margin of victory was surprising, as
many election officials had expressed concern before Oct. 7 that
the vote would be close and there would have to be a recount.
Instead, a subdued Davis conceded defeat around 10 p.m. from his
campaign convention at the Biltmore Millennium Hotel in downtown
Los Angeles, speaking to a gathering of Democratic faithfuls.
“This state has been very good to me. I’ve been elected
to statewide office five times,” he said. “But tonight
the voters decided it was time for someone else to serve.”
Davis, who suffered a strong decline in voter opinion after being
elected with 47 percent of the vote 11 months ago, urged embittered
Democrats to forgive and forget. “I am calling on everyone in
this state to put the chaos and the division of the recall behind
them and do what’s right for this great state of
California,” he said. “I pledge to Mr. Schwarzenegger
the full cooperation of my administration during this
transition.” Schwarzenegger accepted Davis’ concession
from his convention in Century City and promised a thrilled and
energized crowd that he would work hard to bring jobs and education
back to the state. “I will not disappoint you and I will not
let you down,” he said. Echoing Davis’s tone of
reconciliation, Schwarzenegger extended his hand to Democratic
state legislators who have expressed hostility towards the recall.
“I will let them know that my door is always open and that I
want to work with them to help the state of California,” he
said. Many Schwarzenegger supporters were pleasantly surprised that
their candidate was able to claim victory so soon. “I
didn’t think (Schwarzenegger) would be in the lead this much
or this early, but I’m glad. We need fresh new faces in
California,” said Adam Eisenberg, a fifth-year biology
student at UCLA who attended Schwarzenegger’s convention. Dan
Wu, a UCLA law school alumnus who attended Davis’ convention,
said it was “unreal” seeing Schwarzenegger win the
election. “My first thought was: “˜This is a crazy
state,'” he said. In addition to voting for a
replacement candidate, voters rejected Proposition 53, an
initiative that would have increased the amount of fixed funding
allocated for state infrastructure. Voter returns for the
governor’s race came in quickly and gave Schwarzenegger an
early lead. State Sen. Tom McClintock, the second-most prominent
Republican on the ballot, but a long-shot to Schwarzenegger,
conceded defeat to his opponent just a half-hour after the polls
closed. “This is a great day for California. History will
record that on this day, in response to a common danger, the people
of California rose to their duties as citizens and ordered a new
direction for our state,” McClintock said. Bustamante
admitted defeat to Schwarzenegger shortly after Davis did but
sought to deflect attention away from himself by focusing on the
defeat of Proposition 54, a controversial ballot initiative that
would have prevented the collection of most racial data by the
state. “We have something to celebrate tonight,” said
Bustamante, who will remain the second-highest ranking government
official to governor-elect Schwarzenegger.
The new governor Schwarzenegger, a blockbuster movie star,
former Mr. Universe and successful business investor, campaigned
mostly as the political everyman who would go to Sacramento and
“clean house” for career politicians. However, critics
have attacked Schwarzenegger for not having concrete plans on how
to grapple with the state’s fiscal problems and as a
candidate who could only recite Hollywood sound bites to his
supporters. As governor, Schwarzenegger will inherit a state
plagued by an $8 billion structural deficit and many upset
Democrats who feel the recall was a Republican conspiracy to win an
election they lost a year ago. Already there is talk of an effort
to recall Schwarzenegger from office. It is unclear if any lawsuits
are planned challenging the election results. Both Davis and the
state Democratic party said they would not challenge the results,
but independent groups may do so or revive old lawsuits, such as
one filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that temporarily
blocked the October date of the election. Schwarzenegger’s
victory comes in spite of allegations reported in the Los Angeles
Times that he had groped or mistreated over a dozen women during a
span of several years. Schwarzenegger apologized for misconduct in
the past. Tia Carrere, an actress who starred beside Schwarzenegger
in the movie “True Lies” and who was present at his
convention, said the allegations against the governor-elect could
not be true. “He’s a complete gentleman,” she
said. Bill Simon, the Republican candidate who Davis defeated in
last year’s gubernatorial election, said it was a bit sad for
him to see Schwarzenegger finish the job he began last year.
“But tonight I’m glad for Arnold,” he said.
“He’s a great man and he’s going to do a great
job.” Simon was a candidate in the recall but decided to
withdraw from the race and support Schwarzenegger. Rep. Darrell
Issa, R-Vista, who helped bankroll much of the recall effort in its
early days and is a former candidate, lent his strong support to
Schwarzenegger. “To quote Jackie Gleason, “˜How sweet it
is,”’ he said.
Other candidates The rest of the 135-candidate field that
initially gave the recall a circus-like atmosphere were virtual
non-factors on election day, many of them garnering less than a
handful of votes. Peter Camejo, the Green party businessman who
also ran in last year’s gubernatorial election, came in
fourth behind McClintock, gathering about 2.5 percent of the vote.
Independent Arianna Huffington, despite dropping out of the race
mere days before the election, still earned almost 30,000 votes.
Initially, there was some concern that independents like Camejo and
Huffington would split the Democratic vote, or that the
joint-conservative candidacy of McClintock and Schwarzenegger would
divide Republicans. But the wide margin of Schwarzenegger’s
victory dispelled those concerns. The election must be certified by
California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley before Schwarzenegger
can be sworn into the governor’s office. According to state
law, Shelley has up to 39 days to do so, but Schwarzenegger’s
staff said they hoped it wouldn’t take as long. “I
would hope that Governor-elect Schwarzenegger will be given the
chance to begin as soon as possible,” said Todd Harris, a
UCLA alumnus and spokesman for the Schwarzenegger campaign.
“We’re ready as soon as they let us.”
With reports from Adam Foxman , Bruin Reporter, Brad
Greenberg, Bruin Senior Staff and Daily Bruin wire
services.