ARNOLD 'DELIGHTED' VOTERS FOLLOW HIS LEAD ON MEASURES.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard and Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Voters sided with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on 11 of 15 ballot measures he took a position on, leading the governor to boast Wednesday that he is ``delighted'' with the election results.

``I have to be honest, I didn't expect to win that many,'' Schwarzenegger said at a Capitol news conference. ``I expected to win a lot but not that many.''

The Republican governor took positions on 15 of the 16 measures on the ballot, abstaining on one regarding surplus property, Proposition 60A, which voters overwhelmingly approved in the absence of any real controversy.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, said voters may like Schwarzenegger personally because of his enthusiasm, but that doesn't translate to supporting all of his positions.

``His B.S. is infectious,'' Burton said. ``He just gets up there and there's nothing better than a guy who believes his own baloney.''

Analysts said his influence probably made a difference in the outcome for three or four measures, most remarkably in defeating the ``three strikes, you're out'' modification initiative, Proposition 66, which was leading in polls until Schwarzenegger got involved less than three weeks before the election.

``In the past, governors have used ballot measures they themselves have authored, but they haven't been successful at it,'' said Allan Hoffenblum, a GOP political analyst. ``Arnold has been highly successful at it, and not only at those which he himself authored.''

Voters sided with Schwarzenegger in supporting his budget deal with local governments, a $3 billion bond measure to fund stem-cell research, expanding DNA data on felons, reducing ``shakedown'' lawsuits against businesses and opening public records.

They also supported him in his opposition to expanding employer-provided health care, two measures to expand gambling, a new tax on telephone bills to aid emergency medical care and an alternate local government funding plan.

Voters differed with Schwarzenegger in approving a new tax on the wealthy for mental health services, a bond measure for children's hospitals and two measures which, combined, effectively rejected an open-primary election system.

An array of interests both applauded and decried the results, with Schwarzenegger's critics accusing him of siding with big businesses that give him campaign contributions. An election watchdog group said spending on measures topped $200 million, setting a record.

The Republican governor also campaigned for legislative candidates but failed to tilt the Legislature to the right by even a single seat, which analysts attributed mainly to new legislative districts designed to protect incumbents.

Democrats said his failure in the legislative races lessened his ability to bully lawmakers who don't go along with his agenda.

But Schwarzenegger argued he was successful by simply holding the line against Republican losses in a presidential year, when the party typically loses ground in California.

Hoffenblum said the governor's success or failure at ballot measures has much more influence on his leverage over lawmakers than his ability to pick up a few seats in a Legislature which would have remained Democratic anyway.

The balance of the state Senate remains 25-15 in favor of Democrats while the Assembly remains 48-32 and the state's congressional delegation remains 33-20, also in favor of Democrats.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 5 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stops to talk with fourth-grade students from Truckee as he leaves a Capitol news conference.

Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

(2 -- color) no caption (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Box:

(1) ARNOLD'S DAY AT THE POLLS

SOURCE: Daily News research

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist

(2) PRESIDENT

(3) STATEWIDE

(4) L.A. COUNTY

(5) VENTURA CO.