Nomination

Schwarzenegger announced that he was appointing Maldonado to the position of Lieutenant Governor of California 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."

Republican state senators Samuel Aanestad and Jeff Denham, and Democratic state senator Dean Florez were announced candidates for the Lieutenant Governor of California seat in the 2010 elections.

John Laird planned to run for Maldonado's seat in the California State Senate.

Fight

Early in 2010, some California Democrats said they would fight Maldonado's nomination.

• John Burton, state Democratic chair, flatly told a reporter that Maldonado "will not be confirmed."

• 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."

• 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."

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."

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."

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.

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."

Maldonado represented 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 was elected to the California State Senate in 2004 and again in 2008. He would not have been able to run for re-election to the state senate in 2012 because of the state's term limits.

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.

On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Maldonado ranked as a 55.

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:

• California Proposition 1F (May 2009)
• California Top Two Primary (2010).

Maldonado's vote on the budget gave Senate Democrats the 27th vote they needed to reach the 2/3rds threshold for passing a budget.

Committee assignments

While in the senate, Maldonado was a member of these standing committees:

• Budget and Fiscal Review
• Education
• Health
• Veterans Affairs

He was a vice-chair of:

• Food and Agriculture
• Human Services

"Sacramento Six"

Senator Maldonado, along with five other Republicans in the California State Legislature voted for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's solution to the state's $41 billion dollar funding gap. The six Republicans became known as the Sacramento Six.

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.)

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."

Schwarzenegger announced that he was appointing Maldonado to the position of Lieutenant Governor of California 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."

Republican state senators Samuel Aanestad and Jeff Denham, and Democratic state senator Dean Florez were announced candidates for the Lieutenant Governor of California seat in the 2010 elections.

John Laird planned to run for Maldonado's seat in the California State Senate.

Early in 2010, some California Democrats said they would fight Maldonado's nomination.

• John Burton, state Democratic chair, flatly told a reporter that Maldonado "will not be confirmed."

• 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."

• 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."

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."

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."

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.

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."

California State Senate (2004-2010)

Maldonado represented 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 was elected to the California State Senate in 2004 and again in 2008. He would not have been able to run for re-election to the state senate in 2012 because of the state's term limits.