Arnie's lead shrinks amid groping claims

California's governor, Gray Davis, said yesterday that the recall race was now "a dead heat" and that voters had been leaving Arnold Schwarzenegger's camp as allegations of sexual harassment continued.

The latest polls, on the eve of the election, showed the race tightening. But they still indicated that Mr Davis would be recalled and replaced by Mr Schwarzenegger when voters go to the polls today.

Mr Schwarzenegger is now accused of groping 15 women. But his team remained confident and accused Mr Davis of coordinating a last-minute dirty-tricks campaign.

"Davis always knows how to run a dirty campaign but he doesn't know how to run California," said Mr Schwarzenegger, who was shuttling between San Jose, near San Francisco, and Huntington Beach, near Los Angeles, for rallies yesterday.

While denying most of the allegations of groping he acknowledged that "some of the things sound like me".

He apologised again if his behaviour had offended people. Most of the accusations were from women who said that the actor had grabbed their breasts or put his hand up their skirts.

Mr Schwarzenegger was questioned about the claims during television interviews. He told Peter Jennings of ABC News: "It doesn't make any sense to go through details here with you ... Isn't it odd that in the last three days and four days before the campaign all of these women suddenly want to have an apology?"

He also again dismissed suggestions that he had once expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler. He said he "despised anything that Hitler stood for and what the Nazis stood for".

Mr Davis has denied that any of his supporters encouraged women to come forward with claims. "The allegations, if true, are very disturbing," he said yesterday. Some of the claims, if true, would indicate that a crime had been committed, he added.

Both sides agreed that the allegations had had an effect. One paper, the Oakland Tribune, has withdrawn its endorsement from Mr Schwarzenegger. The two main newspapers in the state, the LA Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, were already urging a no vote on the recall.

Mr Schwarzenegger's team remained confident that its campaign was too far ahead to be caught. More than a million voters had already cast absentee ballots before the stories of groping broke.

The campaign of lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante appeared to have stalled over the past week but he has used the sexual harassment allegations to attack Mr Schwarzenegger.

"First there were three, then five, then six, then nine, then 11 and now 15," he said of the allegations at a rally in Gardena, near Los Angeles. "After a while these start to sort of depersonalise, start to sound like numbers. These are women, women who were harassed in the workplace."

In the latest polls, Mr Schwarzenegger led Mr Bustamante by 36% to 29%. The same poll showed 54% favouring recall and 41% against.

Mr Davis brought in the big guns from the Democratic party, including Senator Dianne Feinstein and Jesse Jackson, at anti-recall events. "People are beginning to see how unfair it is and how harmful it is to California's economy," said Ms Feinstein.

During the campaign, every Democratic presidential candidate, as well as Bill Clinton and Al Gore, have visited the state to offer support. Mr Davis still seemed unable to energise the blue collar vote which is vital to his survival.

Tom McClintock, a conservative Republican, who has been running third in the polls, was calling on voters to stick with him. He may pick up some conservative voters unhappy about the groping claims.

A record number of voters, 15.4 million, have registered and much depends on how many turn out. There is also a possibility of legal challenges if the vote is close because the antiquated system that caused confusion in Florida in the 2000 presidential election is being used in many areas.