To: Sully- who wrote (59387 ) 10/7/2003 11:27:24 PM From: Sully- Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 65232 The people speak. The left coast has the Governator. Tee he he Ö¿Ö CNN projection: Davis out, Schwarzenegger wins Tuesday, October 7, 2003 Posted: 11:02 PM EDT (0302 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- CNN projects that California's electorate will recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and choose actor-turned-politician, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Golden State's next governor, based on statewide exit polls. Davis, re-elected to a second term less than a year ago, would become the first governor recalled from office since 1921, when North Dakota voters ousted Gov. Lynn Frazier. The race -- borne out of voter discontent with the California economy and dissatisfaction with the incumbent Democrat's leadership -- tightened in the closing days, marked by accusations against front-running replacement candidate Schwarzenegger, and charges of ugly politics. Polls closed at 8 p.m. (11 p.m. EDT). "So far, at least, we've been hearing that turnout is on a par with what we've seen in some record-breaking years for governor's elections," Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said. The respected Field Poll predicted as many as 10 million voters would cast ballots -- 30 percent more than the 7.7 million who elected the 60-year-old Democrat 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 some other indicator counties, the statewide vote could be as high as 60 percent -- comparable to that of 1998, the year Davis first won election as governor. That would amount to 9.24 million of California's 15.4 registered voters this year -- about 385,000 more than were registered in 2002................ cnn.com