Abel Maldonado
From Ballotpedia
| Abel Maldonado | |
 | |
| California State Senate District 15 | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 2004 | |
| Current term ends 2012 | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Profession | Farmer |
| Website | Senate website |
Contents |
Maldonado represents California Senate District 15, which spans San Luis Obispo County, most of Monterey County, eastern Santa Cruz County, parts of northwestern Santa Barbara County, and parts of southwestern Santa Clara County.
Maldonado is nationally recognized for delivering a speech entirely in Spanish at the 2000 Republican National Convention.[3]
Observers of state politics have described Maldonado as a "pragmatic centrist" and as "the most adept horse-trader" in the state legislature.[4]
Lt. Governor nomination
Schwarzenegger announced that he was appointing Maldonado to the position of California Lieutenant Governor on November 23 when he was taping an episode of the Jay Leno Show. Schwarzenegger said of Maldonado, "He's a terrific, loyal man that has worked very hard in public service. But he's also into bipartisanship and post-partisanship, so he can cross the aisle. He makes decisions based on what's best for the people rather than what's best for the party. He has helped us many times pass a budget, which was very important. And he comes from an immigrant family. They came from Mexico to the United States, started with a little farm, and now they have, like, 600 acres, hundreds of people working there. So he's a great choice, I think."[5]
Republican state senators Samuel Aanestad and Jeff Denham, and Democratic state senator Dean Florez are announced candidates for the Lieutenant Governor of California seat in the 2010 elections.[6]
John Laird plans to run for Maldonado's seat in the California State Senate if Maldonado is confirmed.[7]
Fight
As the February 16 deadline approaches, some California Democrats have made it clear that they intend to fight Maldonado's nomination.
- John Burton, state Democratic chair, flatly told a reporter that Maldonado "will not be confirmed."[8]
- Democratic Assembly Majority Floor Leader Alberto Torrico says, "I don't believe Maldonado, through his votes, reflects middle class California values. He's not been willing to join Democrats when it comes to minimizing cuts that have devastated children and seniors. He certainly has not been willing to ask California millionaires or multinational corporations to do anything extra. So I just don't think he's a good choice."[9]
- Assemblyman Pedro Nava says, ""He has a dismal record. If you look at his voting record, I find it hard to comprehend how Democrats would vote to have him confirmed. It's clear to me, based on conversations with individuals that they have grave reservations."[9]
Reactions
Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign reacted to the nomination by saying, "The best thing we can do right now is to remove Abel Maldonado from a position of importance where he can do great damage, the California State Senate, and place him in an irrelevant post, the Lieutenant Governor’s office. For once, we agree with the Governor – Abel Maldonado should be demoted to Lieutenant Governor."[7]
Jon Fleischman, vice-chair of the California Republican Party, said, "Abel Maldonado believes in big government. He believes there is no issue upon which you can’t compromise. If he wants to call himself a Republican and embrace the philosophy of the other party, it’s the height of hubris."[2]
Jeff Denham said, "It is difficult to see how a candidate who has voted for a massive tax increase could possibly win a statewide Republican primary." Denham hired the polling firm Public Opinion Strategies to measure Maldonado’s support among Republicans, finding that 84% of Republican voters would oppose Maldonado in a Republican primary for the Lieutenant Governor seat in 2010.[2]
Tony Quinn, a California pundit and former legislative staffer, said on December 9, "The likelihood is growing that the Democratic legislature, in a fit of partisan pique, will turn down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nomination of GOP Sen. Abel Maldonado to be lieutenant governor – at least that’s what the capital rumor mill says."[10]
Legislative scorecard
Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score. [11],[12]
On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Maldonado ranked as a 55. [13]
2009 budget negotiations
In February 2009, Maldonado negotiated with Senate Democrats to place several constitutional amendments on the California ballot in exchange for his vote on a budget package that included about $16 billion in tax increases.
Propositions Maldonado negotiated for included:
Maldonado's vote on the budget gave Senate Democrats the 27th vote they needed to reach the 2/3rds threshold for passing a budget.[16]
Political experience
Prior to his election to the state senate, Maldonado was:
- A member of the California State Assembly from 1998-2004.
- Mayor, City of Santa Maria, 1996-1998
- Member, Santa Maria City Council, 1994-1996.
Committees
Maldonado is a member of:
He is a vice-chair of:
"Sacramento Six"
Maldonado explains vote on 2009 budget |
A committee indicated that it might pursue a recall campaign against Maldonado because of his vote on the budget. The same threat was made against other Republicans in the "Sacramento Six", but none of the recall campaigns came to anything. (Most of the recall energy was directed against Anthony Adams.)[18]
In response to his critics, including Steve Poizner, Maldonado said, "Since the budget was passed, you have gone around the state criticizing it and the role six Republicans played in its passage. Your recent statements condemning Propositions 1A-1F are very frustrating. During the budget debate, which lasted over 100 days, I heard from thousands of Californians who took the time to give me their input on the state budget. But I never heard from you."[19]
Background and family
Maldonado grew up on a produce farm. After graduating from Santa Maria High School, and majoring in crop science at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, he returned to the family business, where he helped grow the farm from a half acre of strawberries into a farm with 6,000 acres under cultivation that employs about 250 people.
He is married to Laura Maldonado and together they have four children.
See also
External links
- Vote Smart profile of Maldonado
- Maldonado's senate profile
- Campaign contributions: 1998 (Assembly), 2000 (Assembly), 2002 (Assembly), 2004 (Senate), 2006 (Senate), 2006 (Controller) and 2008 (Senate)
References
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Schwarzenegger picks Maldonado for lieutenant governor", November 23, 2009
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 San Diego News Room, "The Maldonado trial: Senator waits while Legislature decides his future", December 8, 2009
- ↑ Sacramento Latino Policy Examiner, "Lt. Governor pick Maldonado faces uphill battle", November 30, 2009
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Democrats would do right to do right by Maldonado", December 7, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Governor names Maldonado", November 23, 2009
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Schwarzenegger picks Maldonado for lieutenant governor", November 23, 2009
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 BeyondChron, "What Should Really Matter in the Maldonado Confirmation", December 7, 2009
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "No easy confirmation for Maldonado", February 5, 2010
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mercury News, "Assembly Democrats girding for a fight over Maldonado", February 4, 2010
- ↑ Fox and Hounds Daily, "Maldonado - The Nuclear Option", December 9, 2009
- ↑ Capitol Weekly, "Capitol Weekly's Legislative Scorecard", December 17, 2009
- ↑ Fox and Hounds Daily, "Random Thoughts on the Political Scene", December 18, 2009
- ↑ Capitol Weekly", Downloadable 2009 Capitol Weekly State Legislative Scorecard
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Maldonado's price for budget vote: 3 constitutional amendments", February 19, 2009
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "California’s New Lieutenant Governor", November 23, 2009
- ↑ Inside Bay Area, "At last, a budget deal"
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "'Sacramento Six' face conservative backlash", March 22, 2009
- ↑ Recall Maldonado
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Maldonado rebukes Poizner on budget", April 1, 2009
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