Since I couldn’t get tickets to the Jay Leno Show, I attended the Governor’s press conference announcing his pick of Senator Abel Maldonado to fill the empty Lieutenant Governor’s chair.
The event was held at Ruben Salazar Park in East L.A. in front of a huge Latino-themed wall mural by artist Paul Botello titled: The Wall that Speaks, Sings and Shouts.
The intended message at the press conference was overwhelming. Here is a Latino leader, the son of immigrants (his parents in attendance, his mother wiping tears from her eyes), who spent his summers in East L.A. and picked strawberries on the family farm rising to a position of prominence. The unspoken challenge: Do Democrats dare deny this man confirmation and risk a backlash from the Latino community?
Of course, there are other reasons for Democrats to consider appointing a Republican state senator to a position won at the polls by a partisan Democrat. Joe Mathews and John Wildermuth discuss those political considerations in their columns.
But with Democrat Party Chair John Burton and Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg already throwing water on the appointment, it complicates matters for the Democrats as the Latino community watches. On the Republican side, will grassroots Republicans rally to Maldonado and score points with the Latino community, or let their resentment over Maldonado’s tax vote in February be the deciding factor on whether to support him? The bet here is the latter will prevail.
In exchange for the vote supporting taxes, Maldonado demanded an Open Primary measure be put on the June 2010 primary ballot. If the voters approve, the top two finishers in a primary election will face off in the general election regardless of party. The theory goes under such a system more moderates would be elected to office.
While Maldonado is concentrating on the confirmation process, if he secures the job, he told me there is “good chance” he will run for a full four-year term. That would put Maldonado’s Lt. Governor ambitions on the same primary ballot as the Open Primary measure. Normally, the Lt. Governor’s office gains little attention during election season. However, Maldonado could use his visible position as the Open Primary proponent to highlight his race for Lt. Governor. If he ties the Open Primary message successfully to an end of bickering and dysfunction in Sacramento, that could boost his chances for election.
Both major political parties oppose the Open Primary proposition. If legislators see that, as sitting Lt. Governor, Maldonado may have a better platform to promote the measure, it could be reason enough for both the Republicans and Democrats to join forces and deny Maldonado the post.