Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger has long been associated with the Republican Party's moderate wing.

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Schwarzenegger rose to international prominence as a professional bodybuilder, winning the title of Mr. Universe in 1967, when he was 20 years old.

Beginning in the 1980s, he jumpstarted what became a highly lucrative acting career, starring in hits like "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," along with well-known films like "Predator," "Total Recall," "True Lies," "Kindergarten Cop," and "Eraser," among others.

From 1990 through 1993, Schwarzenegger chaired the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Schwarzenegger — who at the time was married to Kennedy family scion Maria Shriver — later launched his candidacy in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election. California voters that year backed the recall, which sent then-Democratic Gov. Gray Davis packing and brought Schwarzenegger into office as he was the top choice among voters to replace Davis.

As a member of the GOP's moderate wing, Schwarzenegger championed initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases and held more liberal views on abortion rights than many within his party. He was reelected in 2006 — with the near-unanimous support of Republicans, nearly a quarter of Democratic support, and the backing of a majority of Independents — and left office in 2011.

Schwarzenegger has since been critical of the California Republican Party, telling The New York Times Magazine last year that the state GOP had "done a horrible job" in representing its citizens.