Arnold Schwarzenegger took office as the 38th governor of California in a 2003 recall election. He was subsequently elected Governor when the previous governor Gray Davis was recalled and Schwarzenegger placed first among replacement candidates. Schwarzenegger served the remainder of Davis' incomplete term between 2003 and 2007. Schwarzenegger was then reelected to a second term in 2006, serving out this full term and leaving office in January 2011. Schwarzenegger was unable to run for a third term due to term limits imposed by the Constitution of California.
At the start of his first term as governor, Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts in the state budget and was met with opposition in the California State Legislature. When San Francisco started granting same-sex marriage licenses at the behest of mayor Gavin Newsom, the governor ordered state attorney general Bill Lockyer to intervene in the matter and vetoed legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage. Because of their opposition to his budget cuts, Schwarzenegger controversially called his opponents in the legislature "girlie men". At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Schwarzenegger gave a speech endorsing the reelection of George W. Bush as president of the United States. In his State of the State address in 2005, Schwarzenegger proposed a redistricting reform that would have retired judges drawing new districts for the state. The first executions of Schwarzenegger's term occurred in 2005 with Donald Beardslee in January and Stanley Williams in December, which drew opposition from opponents of capital punishment and his native country of Austria. In June, the governor called for a special election in an effort to pass several of his proposed reforms. However, the voters ultimately rejected all of Schwarzenegger's propositions. Schwarzenegger started off 2006 by apologizing for holding the special election, which had cost the state money, and proposed a centrist agenda moving forward. The governor opposed the federal government's effort to build fencing on the Mexico–United States border and likened it to the Berlin Wall. In 2006, Schwarzenegger made several efforts to address global warming by signing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and negotiating the creation of a carbon emissions trading market with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. By year's end, the governor called on the federal government to give a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
On November 7, 2006, Schwarzenegger defeated Democratic state treasurer Phil Angelides in the 2006 California gubernatorial election, winning a second term as governor. In his second term, Schwarzenegger pledged to be a centrist politician and cooperate with the Democrats to resolve statewide political issues. Only days into the term, the governor proposed universal health insurance in the state and called for new bonds for schools, prisons, and other infrastructure. In May 2007, Schwarzenegger met with two of his counterparts in Canada, Dalton McGuinty and Gordon Campbell, in order to address climate change and advocate for stem cell research. In 2008, Schwarzenegger proposed a balanced budget amendment to the state constitution.
Also in his second term, Schwarzenegger proposed an austere fiscal policy in response to the Great Recession. Continuing his efforts to address environmental issues, the governor signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexican President Felipe Calderón and signed legislation pertaining to global warming. However, by October, Schwarzenegger vetoed 35 percent of the bills that the California State Legislature passed, which was the highest the rate had ever been since the statistic was first tracked when Ronald Reagan was governor of the state. In the election, voters approved Proposition 11, which shifted redistricting powers away from the legislature and created the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. In the midst of the Great Recession in 2009, Schwarzenegger called upon the legislature to pass deep budget cuts and warned that the state was facing insolvency. At the same time, the governor approved of President Barack Obama's federal stimulus bill. Schwarzenegger appointed Laura Chick as inspector general to oversee California's share of the stimulus bill. In May, the governor voiced his openness to marijuana legalization and a special election resulted in all but one of his state propositions being rejected.
Background Pre-gubernatorial politics
Prior to his 2003 run for governor, Schwarzenegger had had occasional involvement in politics.
In Austria, Schwarzenegger was officially a member of the youth weightlifting team of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).
In 1985, Schwarzenegger appeared in "Stop the Madness", an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration. He first came to wide public notice as a Republican during the 1988 presidential election, accompanying then-Vice President George H. W. Bush at a campaign rally.
Campaign in the 2003 gubernatorial recall election
Schwarzenegger was elected in the recall election that unseated Democratic governor Gray Davis.
Transition into office On November 17, 2003, Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.
Electoral politics and national political activities Schwarzenegger actively supported the reelection campaign of President George W. Bush in the 2004 United States presidential election. Schwarzenegger gave a speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention on August 31 at Madison Square Garden, closing his speech by remarking, "George W. Bush has worked hard to protect and preserve the American dream for all of us. And that's why I say, send him back to Washington for four more years." On October 29, 2004 Schwarzenegger appeared at a reelection campaign rally for President George W. Bush in Columbus, Ohio, saying, "I am here to pump you up to reelect President George W. Bush."
On November 2, 2006 Schwarzenegger urged for a deadline to withdraw American troops from Iraq. On September 12, 2007, Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have allowed Californians to vote in a nonbonding referendum on whether they favored an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
At the California Republican Party convention in Indian Wells on September 7, Schwarzenegger warned his fellow Republicans about how they were faring with the electorate, remarking that "in movie terms, we are dying at the box office. We are not filling the seats."
On January 31, 2008, Schwarzenegger endorsed U.S. Senator John McCain’s campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election. Marking a household split, on February 3, 2008, Schwarzenegger's wife, California First Lady Maria Shriver, endorsed U.S. Senator Barack Obama's campaign for president in the Democratic primaries. After John McCain (by then the Republican nominee) called for an end to the federal ban on offshore drilling on June 16, 2008 Schwarzenegger and other governors promised on June 18 to block attempts to tap offshore petroleum reserves, citing concerns about the environment and tourism. In a taped interview on Meet the Press on June 29, Schwarzenegger defended McCain, calling him "the real deal on the environment".
As part of a bipartisan group of governors on February 24, 2008, Schwarzenegger called on George W. Bush, the U.S. Congress, and the presidential candidates to back a major spending program to repair the nation's roads, bridges, rail lines, and water systems.
It was reported on April 12, 2009 that Schwarzenegger and Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell sent a private memo to Obama saying he needs to assert more political leadership instead of leaving it to Congress to draft a plan for improving the nation's aging highways, bridges, and ports.
Ballot measures In 2004, Schwarzenegger urged Californians to vote against Proposition 70, which would allow the expansion of casinos in return for payments on par with state corporate taxes, saying, "The Indians are ripping us off." On October 18, 2004, he endorsed Propositions 62 and 71, the former of which would establish open primary elections and the latter of which would authorize the sale of $3 billion in bonds and the creation of a state institute that would award grants to stem cell researchers. At a rally in Los Angeles on October 28, 2004 Schwarzenegger joined three former California governors, including his predecessor Gray Davis, to voice his opposition to Proposition 66, which would have augmented the state's three-strikes law.
2005 special election on ballot measures
Schwarzenegger announced on June 13, 2005 that a special election would occur on November 8 of that year for voters to decide on a package of government reforms he championed on how Californian spends state tax dollars and how Californians elect their politicians. In the special election, all four of Schwarzenegger's signature ballot proposals (Propositions 74, 75, 76, and 77) were rejected by the voters as well as four other initiatives. After learning that at least two of his initiatives had failed, Schwarzenegger told supporters, "Tomorrow, we begin anew. I feel the same tonight as that night two years ago...You know with all my heart, I want to do the right thing for the people of California." On January 5, 2006, Schwarzenegger gave a State of the State address in which he apologized to the voters of California for sponsoring the costly special election and proposed a series of policies that represented a dramatic return to the political center.
2009 special election on ballot measures
2006 reelection
In February 2006, Steve Schmidt and Matthew Dowd were respectively named the campaign manager and chief strategist for Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign. On April 14, Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign released his federal and state tax returns for 2002–2004 after State Controller Steve Westly and State Treasurer Phil Angelides, both Democratic contenders for the governorship, released theirs. On June 6, Schwarzenegger won nearly 90 percent of the vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary election without serious opposition.
On September 13, 2006, Angelides admitted to leaking a controversial tape of Schwarzenegger to the media. Katie Levinson, the communications director for the Schwarzenegger campaign called the action "unethical at best, criminal at worst". On October 7, Schwarzenegger participated in a debate with Angelides, who had won the Democratic nomination. On October 12, Schwarzenegger appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The appearance drew criticism because Angelides was not provided a similar media opportunity. While the Democratic Party gained six governorships in the 2006 elections, Schwarzenegger managed to defeat Angelides in the general election on November 7.
Political positions Schwarzenegger is a member of the Republican Party. On September 7, 2007, Schwarzenegger said, "I am proud to be a member of the party of Abraham Lincoln. I am proud to be a member of the party of Ronald Reagan."
When Schwarzenegger was inaugurated for his second term on January 5, 2007, he pledged to work as a centrist by creating an era of "post-partisanship" that he claimed would bring all Californians together to solve the state's problems.