Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Elected Oct. 2003, 1st term up Jan. 2007
Born:	July 30, 1947, Thal, Austria
Home:	Pacific Palisades
Education:	U. of WI-Superior, B.A. 1979
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Maria Shriver)
Military Career:	Austrian Army, 1965-66.
Professional Career:	Bodybuilder, 1965-80; Chairman, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1990-93; Actor, 1970-2003.
Office	State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento 95814, 916-445-2841; Fax: 916-445-4633; Web: www.governor.ca.gov.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger, movie actor and entrepreneur, was elected governor of California in October 2003. He grew up in Graz, Austria, where his father was a police officer. At 13 he told his parents, "I want to be the best built man in the world." At 14, he started training; at 15, he studied psychology; at 17, he started competing in bodybuilding contests. Drafted into the Austrian army, he went off base to win the Mr. Europe Junior contest in Stuttgart, Germany; his superiors put him in the brig, then decided to let him spend the rest of his military career building his body. In 1966, at 19, he won the Mr. Europe competition in London. He lost a Mr. Universe contest that year but won in 1967. There were three organizations holding Mr. Universe contests; by 1970 he had won them all. In 1970 he won the Mr. Olympia contest for the first of seven times and was generally hailed as the strongest man in the world.

In the course of these competitions, Schwarzenegger came to California in September 1968 with $20 in his pocket. After listening to presidential candidates Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, he decided he preferred the Republican. In between his training, he started buying commercial properties in Santa Monica. In 1970 he got a bit part in a movie called Hercules in New York and in 1977 was the chief subject of the documentary Pumping Iron. In 1978 he published an autobiography, Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder. He got a business degree from the University of Wisconsin at Superior in 1979. In 1982 he starred in Conan the Barbarian, the first in a string of box office hits that included The Terminator, Predator, Total Recall, and True Lies. In 1986 this Republican movie star married television journalist Maria Shriver, daughter of Sargent Shriver, first head of the Peace Corps and the Great Society's antipoverty program, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics. Schwarzenegger was active in promoting physical fitness among underprivileged children; from 1990 to 1993 he was chairman of George H. W. Bush's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and in 1995 he established the National Inner City Games Foundation. He became involved with the successful LA's BEST after-school program and in 2002 sponsored a ballot proposition to establish a state after-school program; it provided that no money be spent until available in the budget. Proposition 49 passed 57%-43%. It won 62% in Los Angeles County, 58% in the rest of Southern California, 54% in the San Francisco Bay Area and 53% in the rest of the state.

Not many noticed, but Proposition 49 got 491,000 more votes than Governor Gray Davis did as he won reelection by a 47%-42% margin the same day. There was speculation that Schwarzenegger might run for governor in 2006, but many noted that his liberal positions on cultural issues--pro-choice on abortion, pro-gun control, pro-civil unions for gays and lesbians--might make it difficult for him to win a Republican primary. But there turned out to be another path to the governorship. In February 2003, after the state deficit was projected to be between $26 and $35 billion, and Davis mulled tax increases, conservative activist Ted Costa of People's Advocate started a movement to recall Davis. California law provides that a recall election must be called if petitions are filed with signatures amounting to 12% of the votes most recently cast for the office; with turnout low in 2002, that meant 897,000 signatures. Costa said he had hundreds of thousands of dollars pledged for a petition drive, but in March and April it seemed to falter as polls showed most voters critical of Davis but opposed to recall. Then in May 2003 Congressman Darrell Issa, who made millions from a car alarm business, started pumping $1.7 million into the recall effort. After the July 4 weekend, organizers said they had 1.2 million signatures; on July 16 they were sent to county officials and on July 23 the secretary of state said the petitions qualified. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante set the election for October 7; voters would decide whether to recall Davis and could choose from a list of candidates who would replace him if he were recalled. Anyone could file by paying a $3,500 fee and filing 65 signatures by August 9. Would Schwarzenegger run? He said he had to promote Terminator 3 and would only decide after that. On August 3 and 4 Davis filed lawsuits trying to get the recall called off or delayed; on August 5 the state AFL-CIO urged Democrats not to put their names on the replacement ballot. On the morning of August 6 Senator Dianne Feinstein, whom some Democrats wanted as a backup to hold the governorship if Davis was recalled, announced she would not run. That afternoon Schwarzenegger went to Burbank to tape The Tonight Show; his political consultants believed he would announce he was not running; he shocked them when he said he was. A few hours later Bustamante broke ranks with other Democratic leaders and announced he was running on the replacement ballot. Within 24 hours Issa withdrew from the race. In all, 135 candidates qualified for the replacement ballot. But the ranks of serious candidates soon dwindled. Bill Simon, the Republican businessman who had lost to Davis in 2002, ended his campaign August 23. 1984 Olympics organizer Peter Ueberroth ended his September 9. By mid-September it was clear that there were three serious candidates on the replacement ballot, Schwarzenegger, Bustamante and state Senator Tom McClintock, a fiscal and cultural conservative who had lost the 2002 race for state controller by only a 45.4%-45.1% margin. On September 15, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court postponed the election to March 2004 at the urging of the ACLU; but on September 23 a full 11-judge panel ordered the recall to go ahead on October 7.

Throughout the campaign, in campaign rallies and in televised debates, Schwarzenegger made few specific proposals, but said that Davis must be removed, taxes must not be increased and spending needed to be cut. His campaign organized monster rallies which attracted thousands and where he spoke only briefly and did not mingle with the crowd. Davis rallies were sparsely attended, mainly by Democratic party and union officials; Bustamante, who announced his candidacy by fax, scarcely campaigned at all. On October 2 the Los Angeles Times ran a story alleging that Schwarzenegger had groped various women some years ago. Recall advocates had considered the Times's coverage biased against their cause--its poll showed much more anti-recall sentiment than other public polls--and saw this as another attempt to keep Gray Davis in office. Schwarzenegger admitted that he had "behaved badly sometimes" and apologized. But the stories failed to stop the tide. Davis, elected 58%-38% in 1998 and reelected 47%-42% in 2002, was recalled 55%-45%. On the replacement ballot Schwarzenegger won 49% of the vote, Bustamante 32% and McClintock 13%. The San Francisco Bay Area voted 64%-36% against recall, but Los Angeles County rejected it by only 51%-49%, though Davis had won 56% there 11 months before. Southern California voted 69% and the rest of the state voted 64% for recall. Schwarzenegger trailed Bustamante 46%-33% in the Bay Area, but led him 45%-37% in Los Angeles County, 60%-21% in Southern California and 52%-25% in the rest of the state.

Democrats were bitter over losing control of state government in this generally Democratic state after holding it for only five years of the preceding 21; some even threatened to recall Schwarzenegger in 2004. But Davis conceded graciously and ordered his appointees to cooperate with the new administration. On November 17 Schwarzenegger became governor and made state government suddenly visible; Los Angeles and San Francisco TV stations scrambled to open Sacramento bureaus. Schwarzenegger ordered a performance review of state government and plunged into the business of budget making. He pressed the legislature for repeal of the law Davis signed providing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants; he said he would sign a measure with sufficient security guarantees. He also repealed Davis's car tax increase and used deficiency appropriations to help local governments; they agreed to give up $1.3 billion in each of the next two years in return for a constitutional amendment making it harder for the state to take over local revenues. He got two constitutional amendments put on the March 2004 primary ballot: one to authorize $15 billion of debt to cover the current budget deficit, another to require a balanced budget in out-years. Both trailed in the polls, but after Schwarzenegger started campaigning for them, the first passed with 63% of the vote and the second with 71%; at the same time, voters rejected 66%-34% Democratic legislators' attempt to make it easier to raise taxes. In April 2004, by threatening to take the issue to the voters, he got the legislature to make changes in workmen's comp law without the rate regulation Democrats were seeking. In May 2004 he accepted Speaker Fabian Nunez's electricity bill allowing utilities to buy electricity through long-term contracts but gave businesses less ability to buy power directly than Schwarzenegger wanted. In May 2004 he released a $99 billion budget with deficits that seemed likely to be $8 billion over two years. It called for higher payments from Indian casinos and cuts in pay and benefits for state employees. Unlike his Republican predecessors Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson, he refused to support a tax increase in a budget crisis. "Higher taxes have no place in our California recovery." California requires budgets to be approved by two-thirds votes in the legislature, so they always represent something of a consensus; after negotiations broke down, Schwarzenegger signed a $105 billion budget July 31.

Schwarzenegger campaigned for some Republican legislative candidates in fall 2004, but none won. Democrats held Silicon Valley seats in the state Senate and Assembly by 64%-34%, and held two coastal seats, in Santa Barbara County and in Palos Verdes and Long Beach, with 53%. Schwarzenegger had his successes in November 2004 referenda. A measure he backed promising $3 billion for stem-cell research passed 59%-41%. His measure to protect local government revenues from state takeover was approved 84%-16%. A measure to relax the "three strikes and you're out" law, which had been leading in the polls, lost 53%-47% after Schwarzenegger campaigned against it. A measure to limit tort actions passed 59%-41%. Indian tribes' attempts to augment their casino businesses were rejected by 77% and 84% of the voters. A telephone tax for emergency medical funding was rejected by 72%. And a measure to mandate health insurance coverage for small businesses was rejected, though by only 51%-49%. California voters seemed to be in line with their new Republican governor.

In January 2005 Schwarzenegger proposed a $111 billion budget, with cuts in scheduled increases in health care, transportation and school aid. To cries of protest he said, "Year after year, politicians have promised increases in health care, increases in education, increases in pensions, increases in this, increases in that. My administration and every legislature loves to give those kinds of things. But we don't have the money." Perhaps even more important, he went on the offensive, attacking the heart of the political system, by demanding action on four issues and, again, threatening to take them to the people in November 2005. They included a nonpartisan board of retired judges to redistrict California's congressional and legislative districts, automatic across-the-board spending cuts if spending grew faster than revenues, merit pay for teachers and defined contribution 401(k)-like pensions for state employees. All four threaten the roots of Democratic institutional power. Schwarzenegger said, "We're going right where all the evil is, and we're going to fix it." Redistricting would put more Democrats (and Republicans) at risk of losing their seats, and Democrats might not be guaranteed the permanent majorities they have had under the current plan. Across-the-board spending cuts would give the governor huge leverage in budget negotiations and would repeal the provision the teacher unions got voters to pass guaranteeing a certain level of spending for education. Merit pay for teachers, furiously opposed by teacher unions, would further reduce the power of one of the Democrats' key supporting institutions. Defined contribution pension plans would reduce, over time, the power of CalPERS, which invests California's pension money and is one of the biggest institutional investors in the country; Democrats have dominated CalPERS and have used its leverage to influence the acts of major corporations. In early 2005 the Democratic legislature seemed certain to reject those measures; in June, Schwarzenegger called a November 2005 special election to get voters to approve them. Three of his favored measures qualified for the ballot: one would give the governor new authority to cut spending, another called for an increase in the service required before teachers could receive tenure and a third would create a non-partisan board of retired judges the authority to redistrict state legislative boundaries. Schwarzenegger dropped his initiative to overhaul the state employee pension system and got rid of the merit pay proposal. Democratic legislators and public employees vigorously opposed his plans, criticizing their cost; Schwarzenegger said the election was a "fantastic bargain" for taxpayers. "For a buck and a quarter per citizen, you can fix a broken system and save the state billions of dollars."

Schwarzenegger is a national figure of considerable prominence. He was one of the featured speakers at the 2004 Republican National Convention, where he lauded George W. Bush. "America is back. Back from the attack on our homeland, back from the attack on our economy and back from the attack on our way of life. We are back because of the perseverance, character and leadership of the 43d president of the United States, George W. Bush." And he got tough on Democrats. "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men." He said he was too busy to campaign much for Bush, but appeared with him in California and a few days before the election flew into Columbus to appear with him in what turned out to be the key state of Ohio. Schwarzenegger is ineligible to run for president under the Constitution, but has backed a constitutional amendment to allow immigrants to serve as president after they have been citizens for 20 years.

Will Schwarzenegger run for a full term in 2006? Some in California think he won't if he fails to achieve victories on his reform packages in November 2005. But he seems to have a zest for the job and not to have been intimidated by the attacks that have been launched his way.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent
2003 special	Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)	4,206,284	49%
	Cruz Bustamante (D)	2,724,874	32%
	Tom McClintock (R)	1,161,287	13%
	Other	565,470	7%
2002 general	Gray Davis (D)	3,533,490	47%
	Bill Simon (R)	3,169,801	42%
	Peter Camejo (Green)	393,036	5%
	Other	379,984	5%
2002 primary	Gray Davis (D)	1,755,276	81%
	Anselmo Chavez (D)	179,301	8%
	Charles Pineda, Jr. (D)	139,121	6%
	Mosemarie Boyd (D)	95,857	4%
1998 general	Gray Davis (D)	4,858,817	58%
	Dan Lungren (R)	3,216,749	38%
	Other	306,305	4%