California's Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to win his reelection Tuesday, largely due to his star power as a former Hollywood action hero and a pledge of bipartisanship in the Democrats- dominated state.

As the 2006 mid-term elections are held across the United States to decide a new power structure in the congress, voters in California are picking the people who will run the state for the next four years and deciding on various propositions ranging from energy policy to cigarettes tax.

Meanwhile, Californians will elect a U.S. senator and 53 members for the House of Representatives in a year in which Democrats are hoping to gain control of at least in the House and possibly the whole Congress from the Republicans.

The state could be in the surprising position of electing Republicans to a majority of top state spots despite polls that show a strong national Democratic sentiment fed by anger at the Iraq war, political observers here said.

In the state's gubernatorial election, Schwarzenegger is determined to cap a resurgent year by winning his reelection, while his Democrat challenger Phil Angelides is trying to pull off a Hollywood-like upset despite trailing in the polls.

After suffering a major defeat in last year's special election, where all of his ballot measures were rejected by voters, Schwarzenegger quickly took a conciliatory tone with Democrats and pledged a bipartisanship policy.

By the time the re-election campaign began, Schwarzenegger had already begun regaining his political clout, aided in no small measure by his international movie-star status that continues to make him one of the most recognizable faces and names in the world.

Angelides, the state's incumbent treasurer, is facing an uphill climb on Tuesday night when election results are announced. He has been trailing Schwarzenegger in the polls and in fund-raising, and he is fighting a battle against history. No California governor has been denied a second term since 1942.

Source: Xinhua