The world's sixth largest economy and one of the principal states in the US is to be governed by an actor with no political experience, who spent a personal fortune on his campaign.
Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger's spectacular victory in California is nevertheless the product of a serious political revolt by those who previously supported the outgoing Governor, Mr Gray Davis, and a successful mobilisation of conservative, independent and occasional voters, according to exit poll analyses of the result. It now remains to be seen how he will handle the political and budgetary gridlock that caused this confrontation. His success or failure will feed into US politics, and therefore into world events, over the coming presidential election year.
California has had provision for citizens' initiatives, referendums and constitutional recall of elected officials since 1911, when they were introduced by the populist Progressive party. While there have been many initiatives and referendums since then, only one governor has been successfully recalled, back in 1921. Critics say the use of the recall option on this occasion involves misusing a valid constitutional protective device to serve partisan ends. The viciousness - and the vacuity - of this new partisanship by the Republican right-wing and its Democratic opponents was amply displayed in the campaign, with commentators recalling the Clinton impeachment and other national examples of this new found political culture in the US.
Its overhang will make Governor Schwarzenegger's task all the more difficult. California is beset by a Democratic legislative majority which refuses to cut trade union and welfare benefits to reduce its budget deficits and a Republican minority which absolutely refuses to increase taxes to balance them. Mr Schwarzenegger knows he will have to break that political impasse if he is to tackle the deficit and his efforts to do so will now be followed closely. Arising from this result he has a mandate based on significant shifts of attitude among the Californian electorate, and on a respectable 60 per cent turnout of voters.
Exit polls show most of them had decided how to vote before the final week of the campaign, when allegations of sexual harassment were aimed at the victor. More women than men voted for him. A quarter of Democratic voters backed the recall of Governor Gray Davis, reflecting their anger with his leadership and the condition of the state. Trade union and Hispanic voters, the Democratic core, were particularly disillusioned with him, while Mr Schwarzenegger successfully captured the more energised Republican ones in his competition with the more conservative Republican candidate, Mr Tom McClintock.
The result gives a timely boost to Mr George Bush, who has been under increasing pressure over the economy and Iraq. The presidential campaign has now become more interesting.