page_title: First term of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California
section_title: Election
hierarchical_section_title: First term of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California / Election
caption_attribution_description: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Maksim. The original description page was here. All following user names refer to en.wikipedia. California's Republican Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) and outgoing Democratic Governor Gray Davis (right) listen as Republican Former U.S. President George W. Bush (center) speaks to firefighters on November 4, 2003 in El Cajon, California.
context_page_description: The first term of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California began on November 17, 2003, and ended on January 3, 2007. Campaigning for Governor of California as a member of the Republican Party, Schwarzenegger was elected on October 7, 2003, defeating incumbent Democratic governor Gray Davis in the California gubernatorial recall election. In the first year 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.
context_section_description: On April 10, 2003, Schwarzenegger met with President George W. Bush's senior advisor Karl Rove in the White House. In an autobiography, Schwarzenegger wrote that Rove told him the recall election in California would not happen and introduced him to then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, who was Rove's pick for California governor in 2006. On August 6, Schwarzenegger announced on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that he would run for governor in the recall election. He was soon called "The Governator" by the media. It was reported by Reuters that Schwarzenegger's advisors asked television networks not to air any of his films during the election campaign, lest any of the other gubernatorial candidates invoke federal equal-time regulations and demand similar amounts of free airtime.
  On August 13, Schwarzenegger appointed Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett as his senior financial and economic adviser and Bob White, who was the chief of staff to Governor Pete Wilson, as a top political adviser. Patricia Clarey and Martin Wilson, who were also Wilson aides, were hired to handle the day-to-day operations of the campaign. In an interview with Time that was published on August 18, Schwarzenegger said he was pro-choice. However, his campaign website said he was opposed to partial-birth abortion and in favor of parental notification.
  At a campaign event at California State University, Long Beach on September 3, Schwarzenegger was the target of an egging, which he later joked that he needed bacon to go with the egg. On the same day, Schwarzenegger skipped a debate attended by five gubernatorial candidates. On September 24, Schwarzenegger participated in a debate with four other candidates, including Arianna Huffington, and was called the "Arnold and Arianna Show" because of the verbal exchanges between the two. On October 1, Schwarzenegger laid out his plan for the first hundred days of his governorship, promising steps to freeze spending and audit the state budget, streamlining educational programs, rolling back pension increases for state employees, and repealing a law allowing illegal immigrants to receive state driver's licenses.
  On October 2, the Los Angeles Times published an article with six women alleging that Schwarzenegger touched them in a sexual manner without their consent. The New York Times soon published an article about verbatim excerpts from a 1997 book proposal by George Butler in which Schwarzenegger allegedly said, "I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education up to power. And I admire him for being such a good public speaker." On the next day, Schwarzenegger acknowledged his behavior and apologized in San Diego, "Those people that I have offended, I want to say to them that I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize because that's not what I'm trying to do". However, he stated that he did not remember making comments about admiring Hitler and called him a "disgusting villain". In an October 6 interview with Peter Jennings, Schwarzenegger said he was pro-abortion and pro-gay rights, but he also said that he believed in the Second Amendment and the Brady Bill.
  On October 7, Governor Gray Davis was successfully recalled and Schwarzenegger was elected with a plurality of the votes. In his victory speech, Schwarzenegger promised the people of California that he would not fail them. On October 16, Schwarzenegger met with George W. Bush in southern California. In a news conference, Schwarzenegger said he tried to use their meeting to "create a great relationship with the White House" rather than ask Bush for specific favors. On October 22, Schwarzenegger made his first hire by naming Patricia Clarey as his chief of staff. On October 30, Schwarzenegger met with Vice President Dick Cheney at the White House. He also met with FEMA director Michael D. Brown to discuss disaster relief while there were active wildfires in California and with Dianne Feinstein, the U.S. Senator from California, to express his support for an extension of the assault w
caption: Schwarzenegger with George W. Bush and outgoing Governor Gray Davis addressing firefighters in El Cajon on November 4, 2003
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