From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary…

Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to drop big political news on Jay Leno’s TV show. In 2003, he announced his campaign for governor there. Last night, he followed that tradition by announcing his pick to be California’s next lieutenant governor — State Senator Abel Maldonado, an Hispanic Republican who’s the closest thing the governor has to an ideological ally in the legislature.

The job became vacant three weeks ago after Democratic Lt. Governor John Garamendi won a seat in Congress. Mr. Maldonado is a 42-year-old moderate whose family emigrated from Mexico to start their own farm. But he’s also viewed with suspicion by conservatives after voting for a tax increase supported by Mr. Schwarzenegger this year. Mr. Maldonado took a lot of heat for his vote because he had signed a pledge not to raise taxes.

Meanwhile, Democrats aren’t happy with his appointment either because they fear that his potential status as No.2 in the state would give him a leg up on winning the job in his own right in the 2010 election.

The nomination requires majority approval of both the Assembly and Senate in the next 90 days, or the nomination is rejected by default. Given that four of his 39 fellow state senators themselves plan to run for Lt. Governor next year, you can bet several will be maneuvering behind the scenes to undermine his chances of being confirmed. Should Mr. Maldonado take office, Republicans would hold three of California’s seven statewide elected offices, the largest number in over a decade.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.