On April 22, the California Assembly voted to confirm the appointment of State Senator Abel Maldonado to be California’s Lieutenant Governor. See this story. The office is vacant because the man elected to that position in 2006, John Garamendi, resigned last year because he had won a special election to the U.S. House.

Earlier this year, the California Assembly had rejected the Governor’s appointment of Senator Maldonado. Maldonado is a Republican and the sponsor of the bills last year that put Proposition 14 on the June 2010 ballot. Proposition 14 is the “top-two” system.