Californians
recall Davis Schwarzenegger elected
LOS
ANGELES (AP) -- Californians banished Gray
Davis on Tuesday, capping an extraordinary
political melodrama by recalling the governor
just 11 months after they re-elected him.
Exit polls indicated Hollywood action hero
Arnold Schwarzenegger was leading the field
of candidates to replace him.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.''
Ultimately,
the plot turned on the fates of two personalities
who could not have been more different --
the bland and uninspiring Davis, and Schwarzenegger,
the exuberant bodybuilder-turned-action
star.
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.
Schwarzenegger
also was confronted with reports that he
had praised Hitler as a young man -- accusations
he disputed.
Responding
to the sexual misconduct charges, Schwarzenegger
acknowledged he had ''behaved badly sometimes.''
But he attacked the newspaper and some of
his accusers for what he called a last-minute
effort to derail his candidacy.
Also
Tuesday, voters considered ballot propositions
that would have prohibited state and local
governments from collecting racial data
and dedicated money to public works projects.
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