Calif. recall vote

Schwarzenegger takes oath as Calif. governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger took the oath as California's 38th governor yesterday, vowing to upend the political culture and humble the special interests through decisive action that would amount to the "Miracle of Sacramento."

In California, new governor talks positive

LOS ANGELES - Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger awoke yesterday to the realities he will soon confront in leading the nation's wealthiest, most populous and, for the moment, angriest state.

Other actors in office

Long before Governor Terminator, before Congressman Gopher and Congressman Cooter, even before Governor Gipper, there was Governor Pappy.

Davis out, Schwarzenegger in

LOS ANGELES -- In a stunning finale to a tumultuous campaign, angry California voters fired Gov. Gray Davis less than a year into his term and lifted movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger into the governor's chair in yesterday's recall election.

Many Democrats vote against Davis

Dissatisfied Democrats showed their displeasure with Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday, with about a quarter each breaking ranks to vote for the recall and for a Republican candidate to replace him, according to a Times exit poll.

Analysis: Voters in a state of change

An invasion of armies can be resisted, the saying goes, but not an idea whose time has come.

News media go Hollywood over Calif. ballot

Television turned yesterday's election in California into a mixture of civics lesson and all-out celebrity gawk yesterday, as the networks and news channels attempted to figure out what the recall election really meant.

Schwarzenegger fans party in Austria

GRAZ, Austria - Hundreds of partygoers in Arnold Schwarzenegger's home region packed into a bar last night to cheer on their native son and await news of whether he would become California's next governor.

Recall goes to Calif. voters

The tumultuous California recall race hurtles to a close today when millions of voters cast their ballots on whether to sweep Gray Davis from office and install a new governor to finish the remaining three years of his term.

Election chief in Calif. is ready, wary

LOS ANGELES -- Officials are making unprecedented preparations for California's historic recall election because of the challenges presented by the long gubernatorial replacement ballot, the use of new or antiquated equipment by many of the state's voters and the specter of litigation, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said Monday.

Seven journeys to a choice

LOS ANGELES -- Jim and Mill LaVerde followed it like a pennant race. Sam and Stephanie Larson saw it as a morality play. Eleanor Viggers was drawn to it like a train wreck. Steve and Yolanda Whitehorse just tried not to come to blows over it.

Susan Reimer: No reason to recant support for Arnold

ACOUPLE OF weeks ago, I wrote a column saying that if I were a Californian, I would vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Network lawyers see nothing funny in recall

NEW YORK - Late-night comics will be sorry to see California's recall campaign end today. Television network lawyers won't be.

4 more women accuse actor

LOS ANGELES - The turbulent California recall contest headed into its closing hours with yet another round of womanizing accusations against Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday and indications that the race had tightened.

California recall Q&A

Q: How long has Gray Davis been governor of California?

Schwarzenegger apologizes for mistreatment of women

SAN DIEGO - Responding to fresh allegations of sexual impropriety, Arnold Schwarzenegger confessed yesterday that he had sometimes "behaved badly" toward women and said he was "deeply sorry" for his actions.

Film sets loose, but barbarian behavior rare, insiders say

When Arnold Schwarzenegger found himself facing accusations that he had touched women's bodies without their consent, he apologized, saying he had been on "rowdy movie sets."

Schwarzenegger 'ready to take office'

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Buoyed by a new poll that has him leading all recall candidates less than a week before the election, Arnold Schwarzenegger outlined yesterday what the first 100 days of a Schwarzenegger administration would look like.

Huffington drops out of Calif. recall race

SAN FRANCISCO - A week before the election, independent candidate Arianna Huffington dropped out of the California recall race yesterday, saying it was her best hope of preventing Arnold Schwarzenegger from becoming governor.

Debate tests candidates in California recall ballot

The five leading candidates for governor of California met last night for what is likely to be their only joint debate, one that was marked by angry exchanges and sharp disagreements on new taxes, how to solve the state's budget nightmare and even whether California's economy is in crisis.

Recall vote in California is back on for Oct. 7

A federal appeals court Tuesday put the California recall race back on track for an Oct. 7 election, reversing an order to postpone the vote and setting off a 13-day sprint to a final public judgment on Gov. Gray Davis.

U.S. appeals court hears recall case

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court heard arguments yesterday about whether to let California's gubernatorial recall election go forward Oct. 7, sparring with a constitutional scholar on whether the Supreme Court's decision on the 2000 election is grounds for postponing the vote.

Court to hear appeal on Calif. recall vote

SAN FRANCISCO - With a federal judicial panel likely to reinstate the Oct. 7 date for the California recall election, Gov. Gray Davis and the candidates vying to succeed him are preparing for a final two-week campaign push.

Calif. official urges court to reverse ruling on recall

SAN FRANCISCO - California's top elections official urged a federal appeals court yesterday to reverse course and allow the recall election to go forward Oct. 7, warning that delaying the vote would lead to a "constitutional crisis."

Calif. recall may get second hearing

The turmoil and uncertainty surrounding California's recall election appears likely to last at least a week, legal observers said Tuesday, as the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sought arguments on whether it should reconsider an order postponing the vote until March.

Court orders delay of Calif. recall vote

A federal appeals court ordered California's Oct. 7 recall vote on Gov. Gray Davis postponed, ruling yesterday that if it proceeded on schedule, voters would face an unacceptable risk of errors caused by antiquated punch-card voting machines.

Susan Reimer: Schwarzenegger's zest for American dream counterbalances past of sex, drugs

IT MIGHT COST me my feminist membership card, but if I were a California resident, I'd vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor - even if I'd have to wait a few more months to do so.

Clinton visits California to speak against recall

LOS ANGELES - Former President Clinton waded into the California recall fight yesterday, offering a stirring defense of Gov. Gray Davis during services at an African-American church in Los Angeles - the first in a series of planned appearances this week by prominent Democrats casting the recall as part of a national confrontation with Republicans.

Court hears challenge to Calif. recall vote

PASADENA, Calif. - In a case reminiscent of the legal battle that clouded the 2000 presidential election, a federal appeals court panel questioned yesterday whether California's recall vote should go forward because six counties still use the flawed punch card voting system.

Ueberroth drops out of California recall race

COSTA MESA, Calif. - Peter Ueberroth dropped out of the California recall race yesterday, leaving just two prominent Republicans seeking to replace Gov. Gray Davis.

Calif. recall losing support, poll shows

ORANGE, Calif. - Support for the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis is slipping, a new opinion poll says, while Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has opened a slim lead over Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lt. governor changes course in Calif.

FRESNO, Calif. - Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante abruptly shifted strategy yesterday, moving away from his previous position that his campaign was simply a fallback position in case Gov. Gray Davis is recalled.

Schwarzenegger's debate no-show may hurt his chances, experts say

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote himself out of an important scene in the recall election Wednesday when he skipped the campaign's first debate, giving his opponents the spotlight all to themselves and allowing them to move far ahead in communicating their positions to voters.

Foes assail Bustamante for taking casino money

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - In the first debate of California's recall election, candidates vying to oust Gov. Gray Davis attacked front-runner Cruz Bustamante for accepting Indian casino money and connected actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to an adviser's unpopular remarks on property taxes.

Bustamante: more than anti-Schwarzenegger

DELANO, Calif. - He is the unlikeliest of antidotes to the Terminator.

Schwarzenegger says he'll appear at one debate

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, braving autograph seekers, near 100-degree heat and vendors selling fried Twinkies, took his campaign to replace Gov. Gray Davis to the California State Fair yesterday and blamed the Democratic incumbent for the state's troubled economy.

Schwarzenegger takes middle ground on issues

LOS ANGELES - Arnold Schwarzenegger spelled out his views on issues ranging from abortion to taxes in a radio broadcast yesterday, bowing to weeks of criticism that the action star's campaign has been all style and no substance.

Calif. AFL-CIO votes to back Bustamante

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. -- Hedging its political bets, the powerful California AFL-CIO voted yesterday to endorse Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante for governor in case Gov. Gray Davis is ousted in the Oct. 7 recall election.

By Booth Moore

Sun Journal: Delivering a dressing-down

LOS ANGELES - Never mind the budget deficit and the energy crisis. In perhaps the most image-conscious state in the nation, Gray Davis' most serious offense may be that he has no discernible style. The eye grows weary of his endless parade of gray suits, his Mister Rogers hair, his turkey neck and his puffy eyes.

Key Calif. Democrats rally around Bustamante

LOS ANGELES - California Gov. Gray Davis came under growing pressure yesterday to abandon his me-or-nothing strategy against the recall, as key Democrats rallied behind the backup candidacy of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to hedge against losing power in Sacramento.

Schwarzenegger rolls out his economic recovery plan

LOS ANGELES - As a federal judge ruled against postponing the state's Oct. 7 recall vote, the transformation of Arnold Schwarzenegger from action star to political star began yesterday with his first major news conference and the introduction of his "economic recovery plan" for California.

Davis says recall is 'power grab'

LOS ANGELES - Alternately contrite and defiant in his most direct response to the attempt to remove him from office, California Gov. Gray Davis asked the state's residents yesterday to help him stop a "right-wing power grab" that he said would do "lasting damage to our state, our environment and the very fabric of our democracy."

When he's ready to talk, he'll talk

News and notes from California's gubernatorial recall election.

Justice Dept. approves details of Calif. recall

SAN FRANCISCO - The Justice Department signed off yesterday on the Oct. 7 election to recall Gov. Gray Davis, in response to warnings from a federal judge in San Jose who questioned whether the voting rights of minorities would be upheld.

Calif. candidates are offering scant details of budget plans

In the opening days of California's gubernatorial recall campaign, some leading candidates have offered barely a hint of how they would cope with the main issue that has fueled the drive to oust Gov. Gray Davis: the state's fiscal crisis.

Calif. groups hammer out election debate logistics

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - With 135 candidates running to replace Gov. Gray Davis, groups organizing debates for the state's unprecedented recall election worked yesterday to put together forums that won't break the stage.

Ex-Secretary of State Shultz joins Schwarzenegger team

LOS ANGELES -- Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday that former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz will co-chair an Economic Recovery Council for his gubernatorial campaign.

Davis 'aggressively governing' in campaign

LOS ANGELES - In his five successful campaigns for statewide office, Gov. Gray Davis relied on a simple strategy: He raised huge amounts of cash and then battered his opponent with a barrage of negative ads.

Calif. official warns recall vote could cost $66 million

Calif. official warns recall vote could cost $66 million

Election produces one bad song spoof

News and notes as California's gubernatorial recall election campaign lurches into high gear. Today: Samplings from the online world.

Number of hopefuls could complicate recall in California

The day after nearly 200 Californians filed for the right to be on the ballot to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he is recalled Oct. 7, officials warned yesterday that it might take days after the election to determine the outcome, particularly if it is close.

Field of candidates in recall exceeds 100 at filing deadline

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Scores of Californians took the once-in-a-lifetime shot to run for governor yesterday in the state's recall election as Democrats successfully whittled their field to one major backup candidate in case Gov. Gray Davis is ousted.

Kennedys decline to back Schwarzenegger in Calif.

WASHINGTON - Politics is proving stronger than bloodlines for prominent Democrats in the Kennedy clan.

Ueberroth enters California race

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - While Democrats urged one of their own to drop out of the recall election yesterday, the list of Republican contenders grew as former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth announced his candidacy a day before the filing deadline.

Schwarzenegger given good shot at terminating tenure of Davis

WASHINGTON - By leaping with full force into the race to remove California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger resolved the mystery of whether he would be a candidate.

Satire

Terminator morphs into a candidate

Opening campaign speech of new California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Only in California...

Coleman knows he's in over his head

His campaign treasurer says he stands "head and shoulders above" the competition, but that's not the best joke you hear about diminutive new California gubernatorial candidate Gary Coleman (yes, that Gary Coleman, of "Whatchutalkin' bout, Willis?" fame).

Analysis

California's crazy quilt of politics frays

Arnold Schwarzenegger announces he's running for governor -- on the "Tonight Show." From his wheelchair, Larry Flynt says he'll be the next governor because Californians are progressive enough to elect a pornographer. Angelyne, Hollywood's self-made billboard celebrity, has taken out papers.

Schwarzenegger enters race in Calif.

LOS ANGELES - Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Mr. Universe who became a millionaire superstar in Hollywood action movies, announced yesterday that he would run for governor of California, setting the stage for a tumultuous two-month campaign to unseat Democratic incumbent Gray Davis.

Union leadership backs Davis in battle to remain governor

LOS ANGELES - The leadership of the AFL-CIO and California's largest labor organization asked Democratic officials yesterday not to run in the state's recall election, a boost to Gov. Gray Davis' goal of keeping fellow Democrats off the ballot to improve his chances of avoiding removal.

Davis counters Democratic challenge

CHICAGO - California Gov. Gray Davis gained ground yesterday in his effort to keep other prominent Democrats out of the recall election - as the nation's largest labor organization greeted him with rousing support here, and state labor leaders prepared to warn other party members not to put their names on the ballot.

Candidates to replace Davis in Calif. proliferate

In America, children are raised to believe that anyone with enough ambition, talent and luck can grow up to become president. In California, voters are about to find out that anyone with $3,500 and 65 friends can at least try to become governor.

Davis tries to retain Democrats' support

As the Republican Party's most prominent potential candidates kept silent on whether they would join the race to topple California Gov. Gray Davis, the incumbent struggled yesterday to keep fellow Democrats from abandoning him.

Austrians keep tabs on Schwarzenegger

VIENNA, Austria - It's a question that's got Austria abuzz: Will the Terminator become the Governator?

Part of California recall law struck down; vote to proceed

SAN DIEGO - A federal judge struck down a portion of California's recall law yesterday, but the ruling will not stop the Oct. 7 election to remove Gov. Gray Davis. It will only change the way the balloting is done.