in the november 2005 off-year elections, new york city, republican mayoral candidate michael bloomberg won a landslide re-election, the fourth straight republican victory in what is otherwise a democratic stronghold. in california, governor arnold schwarzenegger failed in his effort to use the ballot initiative to enact laws the democrats blocked in the state legislature. scandals prompted the resignations of congressional republicans house majority leader tom delay, duke cunningham, mark foley and bob ney. in the 2006 midterm elections, the republicans lost control of both the house of representatives and senate to the democrats in what was widely interpreted as a repudiation of the administration's war policies. exit polling suggested that corruption was a key issue for many voters. soon after the elections, donald rumsfeld resigned as secretary of defense to be replaced by bob gates.