Californians desperate to fix their battered economy have voted back Democrat Jerry Brown (72) as governor over the billionaire businesswoman Meg Whitman.
Elsewhere in the state, Senator Barbara Boxer won re-election in a tough race, beating former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Carly Fiorina to mark a double victory for Democrats over Republican newcomers from Silicon Valley.
California's embrace of veteran Democrats stood in sharp contrast to the national trend of throwing out incumbents and voting in Republicans, who took control of the U.S. House of Representatives and gained Senate seats.
Voters in California also rejected two ballot measures with national implications -- one to legalize marijuana and another to suspend the state's climate change law.
Whitman, a former eBay chief executive running for office for the first time, spent at least $160 million, including more than $140 million of her own fortune. But polls showed swing constituencies, including women and Latinos, moved hard against her in the end.
"There's an old Beatles song and it says 'Money can't buy me love.' And in California it can't buy you an election either," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat.
Deeply unpopular Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger could not run for re-election because of term limits.
Mr Brown, who ran the state three decades ago, sought to make Ms Whitman look like Schwarzenegger 2.0 - another newcomer ill equipped to navigate the tricky waters of Sacramento, the state capital. That struck a nerve with some voters.
The rejection of Proposition 23, the challenge to the state's climate change law, was a boost for alternative energy and clean technology industries. Californians approved simpler rules to pass the state budget and put a citizen commission in charge of drawing more voting districts.
That is good news for Brown, who promised to push for green jobs and to reinvent the budget process, widely seen as a disaster that has only papered over a $20 billion deficit.
With double-digit unemployment and lingering housing crisis, a majority of Californians think the country's most populous state is heading in the wrong direction, with a deep divide between coastal liberals and conservatives in the interior.
Mr Brown has promised to make a quick start later this month by bringing together legislators before he takes office to hammer out a spending plan.
But the degree of rancor is difficult to gauge. As Ms Whitman conceded, boos almost drowned out her call for the state to come together under Brown.
Reuters