On April 26, the California Senate confirmed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nomination of State Senator Abel Maldonado to be the state’s new Lieutenant Governor. Senator Maldonado is the author of Proposition 14, the “top-two” primary measure on the June 8, 2010 ballot. UPDATE: Governor Schwarzenegger says the special election to fill the vacant Senate seat will be in the summer of 2010. See this story.
The Assembly had already confirmed him. The confirmation will probably help the campaign against Proposition 14. Proponents of the measure repeat over and over that the California legislature is polarized and partisan. The fact that the California legislature, with strong majorities for the Democratic Party in both houses, was willing to vote for a Republican, will blunt that charge.