Just Call Him Gov. Schwarzenegger

HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 7, 2003–It seems California voters have forgiven Arnold Schwarzenegger for his Twins debacle and have given him another chance to prove himself–this time as governor of the state of California.

For the first time in California’s history, and the second time in U.S. history, voters ousted a sitting governor and replaced him with actor-turned-candidate Schwarzenegger–by more than a slim margin. At press time, with the polls having closed at 8 p.m. PDT, early results reported by Fox News showed 56.5 percent of Californians voting to oust Davis and 43.5 percent against the recall, and Davis had come out to offer a concession speech recognizing that Arnold will be taking up residence in the capitol in about a month’s time.

Although not all votes have been counted, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tonight called the election a “slam dunk” for the pumped-up action star.

Late-night talk show host Jay Leno, on whose “Tonight Show” Schwarzenegger first announced his candidacy, introduced the Terminator-turned-politician before he came onstage at around 11 PDT to accept, joking, “Tonight is a testament as to how important just one appearance on The Tonight Show can be.” Schwarzenegger then came out and thanked his family, his supporters and the people of California for giving him “endless opportunity.”

“I came here with absolutely nothing, California has given me absolutely everything,” he said. “Today California has given me the greatest gift of all–trust….I will not let you down. The answer is clear: for the people to win, politics as usual must lose.”

In his concession speech, Gov. Gray Davis declared his appreciation and gratitude to voters who had supported him through 20 years in office. “Tonight the voters have decided it’s time for someone else to serve, and I accept their judgement,” he said, prompting boos and hisses and calls of “recall Arnold” from his supporters. “Now, now, that’s not the message anymore, that was before the election,” he said, going on to say he pledged full cooperation from his administration during the transition period.

As for Republican leaders, White House administrative staff members have said that President Bush will not be making a statement tonight, but plans to call Schwarzenegger tomorrow to congratulate him.

Accusations earlier this week about the Terminator’s tendancy to be overly friendly with women seem not to have affected his performance in the election, although CNN exit polls show less support among those who made their decision about the gubernatorial race in the last week than among those who chose their candidate more than a week ago. CNN reports show both men and women voted heavily for the action star, with roughly 47 percent of women supporting the actor despite the recent allegations of sexual misconduct.

The AP is reporting higher voter turnout than at last year’s gubernatorial election between Davis and Republican candidate Bill Simon–possibly as high as 60 percent. If these numbers hold, this could be the highest turnout to elect a governor since 1982. According to CNN, exit polls showed only a 27 percent approval rating for Davis.

Although there has not yet been any official word from the Democrats about the election, pundits in the press are already fired up about the possibility of any number of possible reactions, including a lawsuit based on the “hanging chad” phenomenon and problems at the polls, or an immediate clamor for yet another recall election.

Hollywood.com staffers Leigh Johnson and Stacie Hougland contributed to this report.

Posted 2:30 a.m. ET.