Schwarzenegger loses - Democrats win two governorships (2nd Update)

Nov 9, 2005, 17:48 GMT

San Francisco - Voters in California rejected Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's four ballot initiatives in a resounding defeat for the former action movie star after first two years in office.

The defeat highlighted a night of triumph for Democrats in local elections across the U.S. as discontent with Republican leader President George W. Bush is at an all time high.

The highly ambitious Schwarzenegger had convened Tuesday's special election to press for the four proposals that he argued were needed to reform the financially troubled state.

But with almost all the votes counted Wednesday morning Schwarzenegger had nothing to show for the special campaign which had cost more than 250 million dollars.

All the proposals that he said were vital to reforming California were roundly defeated in what the Los Angeles Times called 'a sharp repudiation...that shattered his image as an agent of the popular will.'

Political analysts said the results place severe doubts about his hopes for re-election in the heavily Democratic state in one year's time.

Voters turned down by wide margins his plans to curb state spending, redraw California's political map, restrain union politics and lengthen the time it takes teachers to get tenure.

The closest Schwarzenegger came to victory was on the union proposal which he lost by 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent, while his spending proposal was rejected by 62.5 per cent of voters.

In a concession speech to his supporters Schwarzenegger reached out to his newly empowered Democratic opponents, pledging to 'find common ground' with his adversaries in the state capital of Sacramento.

But state Senate leader Don Perata, a Democrat from Oakland, said that Schwarzenegger had 'sowed the seeds of his own demise' by taking on the full gamut of public workers, who make up more than half of the union members in California.

'He got a lot of really bad advice,' Perata said.

Meanwhile, in two governors races widely seen as indicators of the national political mood, Democrats won handily. In Virginia, Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine defeated state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate. They were racing to succeed popular Democratic Governor Mark Warner.

U.S. Senator Jon Corzine, a Democrat and Wall Street tycoon, won the vacant governorship of New Jersey over Republican Doug Forrester.

The defeats came as U.S. President George W. Bush's approval rating has plunged to under 40 per cent amid the troubled war in Iraq, the response to Hurricane Katrina and the recent indictment of a top White House aide.

His unpopularity led fellow Republicans to increasingly keep their distance, and in Virginia, for example, Kilgore avoided campaigning with Bush until the day before the election.

In New York City, billionaire Republican Michael Bloomberg easily won re-election as mayor, ensuring he will remain in office for another four years. The media tycoon, who spent 66 million dollars of his own fortune on the campaign, defeated Democrat Fernando Ferrer, who had sought to become the city's first Latino mayor.

In Washington state, early returns showed a strong lead for a measure that would ban smoking in all indoor public areas.