Arnie's pledge to California: I won't let you down

In a political triumph worthy of one of his own testosterone-packed action movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger trounced his opponents in the race for the California Governor's office yesterday. He will take over leadership of the richest, most populous US state.

After an unpredictable campaign lasting just nine weeks, Mr Schwarzenegger breathed life into the campaign to recall California's unpopular incumbent Governor, Gray Davis, 11 months after he was re-elected to a second four-year term.

Mr Davis, a Democrat, was rejected by a margin of 54.6 per cent to 45.4. Mr Schwarzenegger, running on a Republican ticket, then soared to victory in the second part of the ballot to determine a successor.

He won almost the same number of votes as Mr Davis in the first round - 45.4 per cent - compared with 33.9 per cent for his nearest rival, Cruz Bustamante.

Mr Schwarzenegger said in a victory speech delivered less than three hours after the polls closed: "I will not fail you, I will not disappoint you, I will not let you down." The extraordinary election to recall a sitting Governor - the first in California's history and only the second recall in the United States - was the result of a big push by the Republican Party to reclaim the initiative in a Democrat-dominated state.

It was also a symptom of deep public disquiet at a record state budget deficit, which has threatened deep cuts in schools, public health and other services. The uncharismatic Mr Davis argued that many of the problems were out of his hands - the result of recession and massive deficit spending by the Bush administration. But the sheer star power of Mr Schwarzenegger blew his arguments away.

He will nevertheless inherit a nightmare budget scenario, with a multibillion dollar deficit which could require him to raise taxes, although he has promised not to. He must also grapple with a deeply divided state legislature, and a political culture suspicious of his inexperience.

Although a political novice, Mr Schwarzenegger used many of the techniques developed as a body-building champion and Hollywood box-office phenomenon to craft his victory: supreme confidence, charm, and a taste for unnerving his opponents through psychological warfare.

He played on his movie persona to demand a "total recall" and to tell Californians to "terminate Gray Davis before he terminates them".

But his campaign was short on specifics and was almost derailed in the final week by allegations of groping and other unwanted sexual advances. In the end, however, the voters seemed unperturbed, dismissing the negative reports as politically motivated smears.