Republican State Senator Abel Maldonado’s appointment by the Governor to the position of Lt. Governor has now been approved by the Senate Rules committee and "forwarded without recommendation" by the appropriate Assembly committee. Votes on the Senate and Assembly floors could occur any time now up to about February 22. If the houses do not act, Maldo will be confirmed.
The press seems to think that Maldo will be approved by the Senate but will have a rougher time in the Assembly, which could reject the nomination. If Maldo is rejected, what will happen?
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier and Ross column today has an insight on what will happen: they say that the Governor may very well appoint former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg to the position, and the Legislature will need to go through the whole process again. Because the Maldo nomination will be at its end before filing for statewide office closes in early March, Hertzberg would be well-situated to open a political committee to run for the office as well.
Hertzberg was considered to be a competent legislator who can work with not only Democrats, but also the business community. Hertzberg is nevertheless a partisan liberal Democrat, who would likely win confirmation, and run and win election in his own right later this year. Hertzberg is a lawyer who represented the San Fernando Valley in the Assembly from 1996-2002. He came close to being elected Mayor of Los Angeles in 2005. In his youth, he was a driver for Lt. Governor Mervyn Dymally. He did advance work for President Jimmy Carter. He was an early supporter of Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000, currently runs an interesting internationally-based solar power business, and is involved in California Forward, an outfit that brings moderates and liberals together to discuss and work on California policy issues.