Abel Maldonado
Abel Maldonado ( born August 21, 1967 in Santa Maria, California) is an American politician of the Republican Party and was from 2010 to 2011 Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was a member of both chambers of the California State Legislature and Mayor of Santa Maria.
Life
Maldonado was born in 1967 in Santa Maria, California, the son of a Mexican immigrant family and attended after high school, the California Polytechnic State University. He then worked intermittently on the family farm with his parents before he became politically active as a member of the Republican Party. In 1994 he was elected member of the City Council of Santa Maria. Just two years later, in 1996, he at the age of 29 years managed the election for mayor of the city. In 1998, Maldonado finished his work in local politics and was elected to the California State Assembly, where he represented the 33rd District as one of 80 members by November 2004. Next he applied for a seat in the Senate from California, where he represented the 15th district. In November 2006, a failed attempt to the California State Controller (roughly equivalent to a Minister of Finance) to be selected already at the internal party primaries. As a State Senator Maldonado, however, was re-elected in 2008. In the Senate, Calif. He also chaired the Agriculture Committee of the Parliament chamber.
After the California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi was elected to the House of Representatives of the United States in November 2009 and therefore resigned this office was vacant. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated Maldonado following the new lieutenant governor. Unlike other high officials of the state, appointed by the Governor, Maldonado's nomination had to be ratified not only by the Senate, but also the State Assembly. In February 2010, the state Senate confirmed the nomination, the State Assembly rejected this but first back. Schwarzenegger sent reconsider the appointment Maldonado to the Legislature, which finally agreed finally on April 22, 2010. Maldonado was sworn in on 27 April 2010 as Lieutenant Governor of California. As the owner of the second- highest office in the state, he advocated a cooperative approach with the Democrats, who possessed in both chambers of the legislature has a clear majority.
When in November 2010 the decency election of a new Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Maldonado applied for a full four -year term as Vice Governor ( elected separately from the governor in California ). Maldonado was able to prevail in the Republican primaries, but lost in the actual election the Democratic mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom. Newsom won 50 percent of votes to Maldonado accounted for 39 percent. In January 2011, Maldonado was replaced by Newsom as deputy to the new governor Jerry Brown.
Maldonado ran in November 2012 as a Republican candidate for the seat of the 24th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was defeated by the Democratic incumbent Lois Capps with 55 to 44 percent of the vote.
In the spring of 2013 Maldonado announced to apply for the candidacy of his party in the gubernatorial election in California, 2014. On January 16, 2014 Maldonado withdrew his candidacy but before the internal party primaries back. He justified his withdrawal from the race with current unfavorable conditions for its application and the desire to spend more time with his family. However, he would not permanently withdraw from politics.