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Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver walk through a crowd of reporters and cameras after casting their votes in the California recall election at a polling place in Pacific Palisades, California, October 7.(Reuters)

¡¡¡¡LOS ANGELES, Oct. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- California's Democrat Governor Gray Davis was ousted in an historic recall vote Tuesday as actor-turned Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger won the race to replace him, CNN reported.

¡¡¡¡Schwarzenegger easily defeated his Democrat rival, the lieutenant governor of California, Cruz Bustamante in the race, the TV network reported, quoting exit poll results.

¡¡¡¡Early tallies showed 1,019,874 voters, or 57.5 percent, favored the recall, compared to 755,375 voters, or 42.6 percent, who opposed it.

¡¡¡¡Schwarzenegger was shown leading with 862,217 votes, compared to Bustamante with 482,376, and Republican state Senator Tom McClintock with 200,970.

¡¡¡¡Davis, re-elected to a second term less than a year ago, will become the first governor recalled in California and the second governor in United States history to be thrown out of office since 1921, when North Dakota voters ousted Governor Lynn Frazier.

¡¡¡¡"Whatever their judgment is tonight, I will accept it," Davis said in an interview with CNN's Larry King Live, about two hours before the polls closed. "I will cooperate in the transition if that's the voters' will, with whoever they choose tonight."

¡¡¡¡Despite the sexual harassment accusations piled upon him in the final days, Schwarzenegger flexed his star power, as one of the most successful Hollywood actors, to fend off the attacks to win the race.

¡¡¡¡A record crowd of 135 candidates took part in the colorful campaign over the past two months.

¡¡¡¡The recall vote has generated widespread enthusiasm among Californian voters, as the turnout was very high compared to the last gubernatorial election.

¡¡¡¡The respected Field Poll predicted as many as 10 million voterswould cast ballots, 30 percent more than the 7.7 million when Davis was elected to a second term in November 2002, and a record in the state for a non-presidential contest.

¡¡¡¡The Secretary of State's office said that based on turnout in Los Angeles and other indicator counties, the statewide vote couldbe as high as 60 percent, comparable to that of 1998 when Davis first won the election as governor.

¡¡¡¡Votes packed polling stations across the state in a high turnout as the two-month tumultuous and chaotic campaign came to the judgment day.

¡¡¡¡In an unusual two-step ballot, voters were asked to answer two questions: Should Davis be removed from office? Who can replace Davis if he loses his job?

¡¡¡¡Accompanied by his wife Maria Shriver, a prominent TV journalist and member of the Kennedy family, Schwarzenegger walked through a crowd of reporters to the polling place in his swanky Los Angeles neighborhood to cast his vote.

¡¡¡¡"I feel good," he said, adding that he had spent time with his family and now was focusing on thanking his supporters. Joking about the unprecedented long list of candidates, he said he "always look for the longest name. That makes it easy to find."

¡¡¡¡The historic recall campaign and the ballot have been under the focus of the nation. Mainstream TV networks and radio programs were brimmed with campaign talks, and were providing extensive special coverage of the ballot.

¡¡¡¡Speaking after a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, US President George W. Bush said he would work with Schwarzenegger if he took the state's top job.

¡¡¡¡Bush praised the Hollywood actor for running "a spirited campaign" that "has captured a lot of people's imagination."

¡¡¡¡The final results of the vote will be issued after all the votes are counted. The Secretary of State's office said Schwarzenegger could formally take over the office in mid-November under the legal process of transition. Enditem

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