By Rene Sanchez and William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 3, 2003; Page A01

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 -- Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's front-running campaign in California's recall election was rocked today by allegations that he has repeatedly groped or sexually harassed women over his long career as a champion bodybuilder and movie star.

Schwarzenegger's campaign initially scoffed at the charges, which were made by six women quoted in a lengthy story in today's Los Angeles Times. But even as Republican leaders were denouncing the account as a smear tactic planted by Democratic allies of embattled California Gov. Gray Davis, the actor issued a dramatic apology at a campaign event this morning, saying he had "behaved badly sometimes."

The six women told the newspaper that Schwarzenegger had grabbed their breasts or made other unwelcome, lewd advances on movie sets and other venues between 1975 and 2000. "Did he rape me? No," one woman said. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."

The accusations engulfed Schwarzenegger's campaign during what has appeared to be its finest hours. Polls this week have indicated that a majority of voters favor recalling Davis in next Tuesday's election and that the actor is leading the field of candidates vying to replace him. On Wednesday, sounding confident of victory, Schwarzenegger even outlined plans for his first 100 days in office.

But he spent today on the defensive -- and some Republican leaders expressed concern that the allegations, and the actor's subsequent admission of past misconduct, could significantly affect the race.

As he embarked on a four-day bus tour of the state this morning in San Diego, Schwarzenegger first called the accusations in the story "trash politics." But then he startled a large crowd of supporters by apologizing for his actions.

"Let me tell you something," Schwarzenegger said. "A lot of [what] you see in the stories is not true, but at the same time, I have to tell you that I always say, that wherever there is smoke, there is fire. That is true.

"So I want to say to you, yes, that I have behaved badly sometimes," he continued. "Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right which I thought then was playful, but now I recognize that I have offended people. And to those people that I have offended, I want to say to them I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize because this is not what I'm trying to do."

Davis's campaign denied having any role in the publication of the women's accusations against Schwarzenegger. In an appearance in Santa Monica today, the governor declined to comment on the story, saying: "I would rather leave this matter to the voters of this state. They will digest it. They will decide what importance it has."

But women's groups reacted with fury and called Schwarzenegger unfit to govern California. "Your explanation is appalling, insults our intelligence and shows that you just don't get it," said Helen Grieco, executive director of the California chapter of the National Organization for Women. "Your behavior was not playful; it was illegal."

The Los Angeles Times said its report was based on a seven-week investigation by its staff and that no other candidate in the recall race tipped the paper to the allegations. The article also said none of the women interviewed had approached the newspaper.

Four of the women interviewed by the Times said that Schwarzenegger grabbed their breasts or buttocks. Another said that he groped her and tried to remove her bathrobe and bathing suit in a hotel elevator. A sixth said the actor pulled her onto his lap and made a crude sexual overture.

Four women made the charges to the Times anonymously, with some saying they feared telling their stories publicly would jeopardize their jobs in the entertainment business. None said they had ever filed formal complaints about the actor.

Schwarzenegger faced another controversy today when ABC News reported that he spoke favorably about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in an obscure 1975 interview. "I admired Hitler, for instance, because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power," Schwarzenegger said, according to the network. Schwarzenegger who has long been a major donor to Jewish groups in Los Angeles, told ABC today, "I cannot remember any of these. All I can tell you is that I despise everything Hitler ever stood for."

Schwarzenegger's conduct toward women has been an issue in his campaign since it began. GOP strategists and some of his own advisers have feared that allegations of sexual impropriety aired against him in recent years in the tabloid or entertainment media could be a political liability.

In August, Schwarzenegger was forced to explain a 1977 interview he gave to the defunct adult magazine Oui, in which he spoke in graphic terms about his sexual exploits and described how on one occasion he and other bodybuilders had group sex with a woman. He gave conflicting accounts of his comments, first saying he had lived a "wild" life when he was single, then contending that he had made up the stories to draw attention to bodybuilding.

Schwarzenegger's campaign also has been shadowed by questions about a remark he made in an interview with Entertainment Weekly this summer. Noting a scene from his film "Terminator 3," the actor said, "How many times do you get away with this -- to take a woman, grab her upside down and bury her face in a toilet bowl?" He later said he was joking and only making reference to a character in the film who was a robot, not a real woman.

To improve his standing among female voters, Schwarzenegger and his wife, journalist Maria Shriver, appeared last month on Oprah Winfrey's television program. He cast himself as a devoted family man -- he has four children -- and insisted he is not a womanizer.

Schwarzenegger's support in polls has improved in recent weeks. Some surveys have shown that nearly 40 percent of female voters support his candidacy. In a Los Angeles Times poll published Wednesday, 54 percent of women surveyed said they favor ousting Davis and 62 percent of all voters said that Schwarzenegger had the character and integrity to be governor. About 1.6 million voters already have cast absentee ballots.

Some Republican leaders said today that the allegations would not injure the actor's campaign, especially because he apologized so quickly. "I think he did exactly the right thing to tackle it head on," said Ron Nehring, the GOP chairman of San Diego County.

But John Feliz, campaign manager of state Sen. Tom McClintock, who is Schwarzenegger's Republican rival in the recall race, said the actor would "definitely take a hit" among conservative voters who already had been reluctant to support his campaign. Feliz said, "You don't apologize for something that didn't take place."

After his apology, Schwarzenegger tried to put the allegations behind him, saying, "Now, let's go from the dirty politics back to the future of California." But with nearly 200 reporters on his bus tour, the issue dominated his day.

This afternoon, Schwarzenegger had to address the Times story again, saying, "I will say most of it is not true." He added, "Women voters should know that I always have strong women around me. I am always interested in working with women.''

When Schwarzenegger stopped in Costa Mesa, Calif., he encountered women waving signs that said, "Hey Arnold, Grope This," and "Groper for Governor." One woman, Gail Escobar, 41, who said she is a waitress in Santa Monica, stood before a throng of cameras and accused Schwarzenegger of making menacing sexual comments to her 25 years ago.

A spokesman for the actor, Todd Harris, later called that charge "ridiculous and scurrilous'' and said that Escobar sits on an organizing committee of a union fighting the recall.

"We're here to warn all women of California about this guy," said another protester, Dahlia Lopez, 18. "He's like a predator."

But some women who came to Schwarzenegger's rallies today said they are suspicious of the allegations. "A lot of this stuff allegedly happened years ago. Why are these woman coming forward now?" said Lori Butler, 44, a corporate manager in San Diego. "I bet they're Democrats."

Special correspondent Kimberly Edds contributed to this report.