BEVERLY HILLS – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory was one of the few bright spots for Republicans, who lost control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats as well as several Senate seats Wednesday morning.

Though the crowd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel was ecstatic over Schwarzenegger’s victory, they also sounded dejected over the Republican losses across the country. Many booed when television monitors showed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, celebrating her party’s clinching of the House, and possibly the Senate.

Rodney Leong, president of the San Francisco Young Republicans, said his friends teased him about his congresswoman, Pelosi, possibly becoming Speaker of the House.

He said the Republican movement in traditionally liberal San Francisco was “starting to bubble.”

“Even my Democrat friends tell me that there’s a need for balance in San Francisco,” Leong said. “Hopefully that will happen.”

Before the polls closed, Schwarzenegger campaign strategist Matthew Dowd said he hoped the governor’s re-election would provide lessons to Republicans and Democrats alike.

“If we win, and win significantly, people will realize that what people in this country want is bipartisanship,” Dowd said. “And they want a sense of giving people a community that
disregards labels.”

Many of Schwarzenegger’s supporters seemed to echo that sentiment.

“Schwarzenegger represents a different kind of Republican,” said Andrew Dick of the Log Cabin Republicans, which represents gay and lesbian party members. “In a state like California, you have to, if you want to have any kind of Republican leadership. You cannot have, what is believed to be, and I’m not saying this is true, the stereotypical conservative politician.”

Steve Share of Toluca Lake, Calif., said he has personally known Schwarzenegger for 27 years. He said he admires the Austrian-born governor’s passion for the state.

“For somebody who wasn’t born and raised here, he was the closest to caring the most about the state,” Share said. “I’m normally a Democrat, and he made me a Republican.”

At the table next to Share’s, Brentwood, Calif. business owner Sharyl Bloom said the issues she wants the governor to tackle during his next term include education and health care.

“He wants to see everyone in California covered by health care, and I like that idea,” Bloom said.

Family, friends and supporters joined Schwarzenegger as he celebrated his re-election.
With news agencies projecting victory shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m., the crowd at the Beverly

Hilton Hotel could only wait for the Republican governor to join them in the festivities.

There were hugs and high-fives among many on the floor as the monitors showed Schwarzenegger with an immense lead over his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Phil Angelides.

“I guess it’s official, there will be no ‘True Lies 2,’” actor Tom Arnold jokingly told the audience in reference to the 1994 movie in which he appeared with Schwarzenegger.

Prior to the governor’s arrival on stage, a video showing Schwarzenegger’s legislative victories and defeats played. The crowd laughed at footage of CNN commentator Jack Cafferty calling the governor a “dumbbell” after his slate of “reform” initiatives failed during last year’s election, and suggesting that he could play “Conan the Geriatric” after “he’s voted out of office.”

Schwarzenegger then arrived on stage amid a barrage of green, orange, and white confetti as the crowd waved signs.

“I love doing sequels,” Schwarzenegger told the crowd. “This, without a doubt, is my favorite sequel.”

After thanking his family and supporters, Schwarzenegger addressed Angelides’ supporters.

“I’m going to work hard to win your support in the next four years,” he said. “Your hopes and dreams are my hopes and dreams.”

Other Republicans running for statewide office and people campaigning for ballot initiatives also appeared at the event.

State Senator Tom McClintock, running for lieutenant governor, was in a closely contested race with Democrat John Garamendi. Hours before the results came in, with Garamendi winning by a small margin, McClintock talked about the importance of the job he sought.

“That often is the second bulliest pulpit in California,” McClintock said. “And that can have a large impact on the public policy debate.”

Child-safety advocate Mark Lunsford campaigned for Prop. 83, which places tighter guidelines on where sex offenders can take up residence and requires them to be monitored with GPS devices. The proposition was dubbed the “Jessica’s Law Initiative,” named for Lunsford’s 5-year-old daughter, who was kidnapped from her Florida home, raped and murdered in 2005.

He had a message for those who felt Prop. 83 was too strict when it comes to monitoring offenders.
“Let them come live with you,” he said. “Let them come live across the street from you. What we’ve been doing is not strict enough. That’s why they keep committing these crimes.”