11/09/2006 18:55:00

Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed a second term as California governor, capping a year-long comeback in which he admitted mistakes, boomeranged back to the political centre, and spotlighted his celebrity to win appeal across the voter spectrum. "I love doing sequels," said Schwarzenegger, 59, at a victory rally in Beverly Hills where he was showered with confetti. "This, without any doubt, is my favourite sequel." In a year when Republicans struggled nationwide, the former film star avoided the same fate by positioning himself as an "Arnold Republican" – a bipartisan deal-maker with strained ties to the Bush White House. Schwarzenegger's decisive victory over Democrat Phil Angelides was also helped by having an opponent who failed to energise his own party. A year ago, the Democrats were in pole position. Schwarzenegger's popularity collapsed along with his scheme to realign power in Sacramento, and was forced to ponder the possibility that his first term might be his last. But the former muscleman and Hollywood star abruptly changed course. He stopped belittling "girlie-men" legislators and public employee unions, and cut deals with Democrats on popular issues such as global warming and road-building. Keith Ellison, a Democratic state politician and lawyer, has become the first Muslim elected to Congress. On the campaign trail in his urban Minneapolis district, Ellison, 43, talked little about his religious background, focusing instead on his call for an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. He broke from more conservative Muslims by favouring gay rights and abortion rights. Senator Hillary Clinton told reporters her daughter Chelsea had been turned away at a Manhattan polling station because her name did not appear in a book of registered voters. Investigators discovered that her name had been sent to the wrong polling location. She was offered an affidavit vote, instead.