LOS ANGELES – In a stinging rebuke from voters who elected him two years ago, Governor Schwarzenegger’s efforts to reshape state government were rejected during a special election that darkened his prospects for a second term. Voters also strongly rejected an initiative that would have required parents to be notified when minors seek abortions.

All four of the Republican governor’s signature ballot proposals were rejected in Tuesday’s election, which pitted him against public employee unions and Democrats who control the Legislature.

The unions spent millions of dollars to beat Mr. Schwarzenegger’s propositions to limit the use of their member dues for political purposes, cap state spending, redraw legislative districts, and make public school teachers work longer to achieve tenure.

It was a sobering evening for a man once considered among the most popular politicians in America. The contest represented the biggest test yet of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s faltering leadership.

Voters overwhelmingly defeated Proposition 76, the governor’s centerpiece proposal to slow the growth of state spending and give him authority to make mid-year budget cuts. Proposition 77, which would have redrawn legislative and congressional districts, also lost by a wide margin.

Failing by slimmer spreads were Proposition 74, a plan to lengthen teachers’ probationary period from two years to five, and Proposition 75, which would have required public employee unions to get members’ permission before dues could be used for political purposes.

Poll after poll showed it was an election that Californians didn’t want, with a total lineup of eight initiatives that didn’t connect with everyday issues such as gas prices, housing costs, and the war in Iraq.

The Proposition 73 abortion amendment, which was also defeated, would have made California the 35th state requiring parental notification for girls 17 and under requesting the procedure. It would not have required parents or guardians to grant their permission. Backers hoped it would reduce California’s teen abortion rate – the nation’s fourth-highest.

Abortion opponents in the state have tried for more than two decades to make it harder for girls to terminate pregnancies without their parents’ knowledge, but this was the first year a measure qualified for the ballot.

The measure also contained a provision that would have defined abortion as an act that causes “the death of the unborn child, a child conceived but not yet born.”