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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to rehabilitate his image in the coming months, after the major political blow that came when voters handily rejected all his Special Election ballot proposals Tuesday.

The Republican governor’s pet propositions – Proposition 74, to extend teacher probation periods; 75, to put restrictions on union spending; 76, to slow the growth of state spending; and 77, to restructure the state’s political districts – all failed.

Voters also rejected the other four initiatives on the ballot.

Proposition 76 in particular failed by a sizable margin, with 62 percent of voters rejecting the initiative that would have given the governor a more direct hand in state budget decisions.

Similarly, 59.46 percent voted “no” on Schwarzenegger’s redistricting proposal.

Other defeated propositions include mandatory parental notification for a minor’s abortion, tighter regulation of the electricity industry and two prescription-drug proposals.

But Tuesday’s all-out failure may be a blessing in disguise for Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger has been pushing traditional conservative staples for the past few months, exciting his base and isolating a bulk of moderate voters, said Walter Zelman, director of the California Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.

But now the governor may decide to reclaim his image: that of a moderate outsider above the everyday partisan bickering of state politics, Zelman said.

“He may be more able to say to those to his right, ‘I can’t go down your path anymore. Look what happened. I tried that and we got ripped. Now I have to go to the centrist road I’ve always wanted to take,’” Zelman said.

Experts said voters’ sharp rejection of the Special Election’s right-leaning propositions emphasizes that the Golden State is still a dependable Democratic stronghold.

The next step for Schwarzenegger, Zelman said, is to acknowledge defeat, rethink his strategy, and make amends with the legislators across the partisan aisle.

But the state’s Democratic leadership may not be eager to let the Republican governor return to the fold.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez said Democrats are open to compromising with Schwarzenegger. But he added that the two sides have not yet reached the “kumbaya stage.”

Though Tuesday’s election further weakened Schwarzenegger’s political clout, experts say it’s far too early to count him out of next year’s gubernatorial election.

Zelman compared the Republican governor’s situation to that of former President Bill Clinton in 1994, when Hill Republicans earned strong majorities in both houses.

“People were counting Clinton out, and two years later he walked through re-election,” Zelman said.

The ballot initiatives not submitted by the governor fared no better than those he personally sponsored.

The highly controversial Proposition 73, which would have required minors to notify their parents before receiving an abortion, lost with 52.54 percent voting against the initiative.

Propositions 78 and 79, which both dealt with prescription-drug discounts, and 80, which would have changed regulations for electricity providers, were all defeated with more than 58 percent voting “no.”

Voter turnout for Tuesday’s election exceeded expectations.

In Los Angeles County, 1,575,665 made it out to the polls – a shade over 41 percent of registered voters – according to the city registrar.

With reports from Bruin wire services.