Though some of the claims had been published elsewhere, including in an article in Premier magazine in 2001, the Los Angeles Times account was exhaustive and included fresh details of the complaints. Two of the women were identified by name. In the Premier story, a lawyer for Schwarzenegger was quoted accusing one of the women of creating an "outrageous fabrication."

In making his apology Thursday, Schwarzenegger denounced the Los Angeles Times article as "trash politics" and did not admit to any of the specific claims made by the six women. "A lot of those that 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," he said. "That is true."

Until now, allegations of sexual misconduct involving Schwarzenegger have held little sway with voters. But the issue has shadowed the campaign since day one. In announcing his candidacy on Aug. 6 on the NBC Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Schwarzenegger was the first to raise the subject.

"I know they're going to throw everything at me, and they're going to, you know, say that I have no experience and that I'm a womanizer and that I'm a terrible, terrible guy," Schwarzenegger said. "And all this kind of things is going to come my way."

Last month, when stories began to surface about an interview he had given in 1977 to Oui magazine, in which he bragged about engaging in group sex and talked about the benefits of drugs and sex before bodybuilding competitions, Schwarzenegger seemed to have been caught off guard. He changed his explanation over the course of two days.

When first asked about the interview on a talk radio show in Sacramento, Schwarzenegger chuckled, saying he "never lived my life to be a politician," adding, "Obviously, I've made statements that were ludicrous and crazy and outrageous and all those things, because that's the way I always was."

The next day at a press conference, he backtracked. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he told reporters. "I have no memory of any of the articles I did 20 or 30 years ago."

Later, he said that he made up the episodes to help promote a documentary about his life and to advance his sport.

"Remember, there were only a few hundred gymnasiums in America at the time when I came over here," Schwarzenegger said on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews on Sept. 3. "Now there are hundreds of thousands."

The decision Thursday to acknowledge and apologize was a calculated move by Schwarzenegger's campaign to prevent the latest claims from derailing the last weekend of the recall race, aides said. Recent polls have shown Schwarzenegger emerging as the favorite to win next Tuesday's election, having even picked up support among women.