ARNOLD: THE SEQUEL GOVERNOR BOOSTS CLOUT, LOOKS AHEAD TO TERM.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD and KATE FOLMAR Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was coasting to a commanding re-election victory late Tuesday night, besting state Treasurer Phil Angelides and boosting his clout as he looks to build a legacy in his first full term.

Voters were also embracing the governor's seminal effort to re-establish himself as a civic-minded independent. Ballot measures authorizing $37.2 billion in borrowing to shore up the state's aging levees, schools and roads were leading in early returns, although a school bond measure was just barely ahead.

The results give Schwarzenegger considerable clout heading into another term, although he has been cryptic about future plans beyond an expansion of health care coverage and opposition to new taxes.

Angelides, who had been trailing in polls for weeks leading to the election, called Schwarzenegger around 10 p.m. to concede the race.

The governor took the stage at the Beverly Hilton hotel a few minutes later after being introduced by his wife, Maria Shriver. Surrounded by family and supporters, Schwarzenegger thanked the voters and declared he wants to unite the state. The former action star called his re-election ``my favorite sequel.''

He also said the voters offered a mandate for a better future in the state.

``Tonight I believe the people have given us a mandate,'' Schwarzenegger said. ``Not a mandate for me, not a mandate for any specific party, but a mandate to move the state ahead. A mandate for leadership. A mandate to build a better and brighter future for California.

``And that is exactly what we are going to do in the next four years.''

Angelides spoke to supporters at a hotel in his hometown Sacramento.

He urged them to continue fighting for Democratic values.

``Tonight this campaign comes to an end, but the struggle for fairness and opportunity, the struggle to give a hand up to the people who make the state great -- that struggle goes on each and every day,'' Angelides said at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.

The victory completed Schwarzenegger's resurrection after last year's wasted special election in which voters repudiated the governor and his conservative-leaning slate of initiatives.

Most likely, analysts said, he will continue the tone of bipartisan cooperation that he adopted this year rather than the harsher rhetoric of 2005 that led to the special-election failure.

``I think we're going to see the collaborator, the California cheerleader,'' said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at California State University, Sacramento. ``He'll be the `Let's restore the luster and give every opportunity to solve problems' governor.''

Analysts said there were several keys to the governor's re-election victory, including his about-face after last year's disastrous special election.

In 2005, the governor pushed a series of government reform measures at the ballot box that angered labor unions and Democratic leaders throughout the state.

The groups, led by the California Teachers Association, spent heavily in a campaign that not only defeated his measures, but knocked down his approval ratings.

But after the defeat the governor said he learned his lesson and expressed remorse for his many mistakes.

Schwarzenegger's mandate isn't for any particular issue, Republican strategist Dan Schnur said, but for a style: ``Conciliation and cooperation instead of confrontation.''

The governor began the year calling for a staggering $68 billion bond package to renovate the state's outdated public works. When that plan fell apart, Schwarzenegger allowed lawmakers to take the lead in crafting an infrastructure plan worth roughly half. Then, he adopted it.

A multibillion-dollar tax windfall, spurred by a recovering state economy, allowed Schwarzenegger to boost education funding -- and to thwart what had been Angelides' top campaign issue.

The governor then struck deals with legislative Democrats to curb greenhouse gases, raise the minimum wage and cut prescription drug costs. Schwarzenegger also used his executive powers to jump-start stem cell research -- another popular Democratic cause. At every turn, the governor slighted the Bush White House.

Schwarzenegger again became a Republican many Democrats could live with.

Angelides could only watch as the governor plucked campaign planks out from under him. And Angelides emerged from a bruising primary short on campaign funds and unable to counter an onslaught of advertising by Schwarzenegger over the summer.

That, combined with the stark image contrast between the two -- the tanned, charismatic movie star against the lanky, bookish bureaucrat -- made the race almost unwinnable for Angelides, political analysts said.

It would have been ``awfully tough'' for anyone to beat the newly compliant, centrist Schwarzenegger, GOP analyst Schnur said, ``but a moderate Democrat would have had a better shot. Arnold Schwarzenegger reclaimed the middle, but Phil Angelides never even fought for it.''

Nor did a poorly run campaign help Angelides' cause. Campaign insiders said his attention to detail -- such as fixating on whether to staple or paper clip campaign memos -- verged on the obsessive.

Angelides was resigned to pray for a miracle: that a national wave of discontent with Republicans would overcome his gigantic gap in the polls and sweep him into office.

But that didn't materialize and now Schwarzenegger is likely to focus on legacy building. If all or most of his infrastructure bonds pass, he will be involved with overseeing the spending of billions of dollars for transportation, housing, schools and levees.

Schwarzenegger's biggest problem next year may be with members of his own party.

Daily News Staff Writer Beth Barrett, and Edwin Garcia and Mike Zapler of the MediaNews Sacramento Bureau contributed to this report.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes hands with supporters during his re-election celebration at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Tuesday.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria, and their son, Christopher, after voting at the Crestwood Hills Recreation Center on Tuesday in Brentwood. Schwarzenegger was quickly on his way to victory over Phil Angelides on Tuesday night.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(3) Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, center, is joined by his family as they prepare to watch the election returns in Sacramento on Tuesday. Angelides, seen seated with his daughter Arianna, left, and wife, Julie, was trying to unseat incumbent Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press