Abel Maldonado
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| Abel Maldonado | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Bruce McPherson |
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Member of the California State Assembly
from the 33rd district |
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| In office 1998 – 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Tom J. Bordonaro, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Sam Blakeslee |
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| Born | 1967 |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater | San Luis Obispo |
| Profession | Politician, Farmer |
Abel Maldonado (born August 21, 1967 in Santa Maria, California) is a Republican U.S. politician who is currently a California State Senator. He ran unsuccessfully for California State Controller in 2006.[1] Maldonado was the first Republican in the State Senate to vote for the budget during the budget deadlock in 2007. He represents a swing district and is considered a moderate.[1] Prior to serving in the State Senate, Maldonado was a member of the California State Assembly and Mayor of Santa Maria. He achieved financial success as a strawberry farmer.
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[edit] Early life
Maldonado is the eldest son of immigrant farm workers. His family eventually acquired a small family farm, where they raised strawberries. After Maldonado graduated from Santa Maria High School, his family used their earnings from the farm to send him to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he majored in Crop Science. Maldonado brought his college experience back to his family's farm and helped his family grow the half-acre strawberry farm into a 6,000-acre (24 km²) farm, employing 250 people, with produce shipped around the world.
[edit] Before State Senate
After months of attempting to obtain a building permit from the City of Santa Maria to construct a cooling facility on the farm, Maldonado grew disillusioned with the city bureaucracy and decided to run for the Santa Maria City Council in 1994 at the age of 26. In 1996, at the age of 28, Councilman Maldonado successfully ran for mayor, defeating the incumbent's re-election bid. In 1998, at the age of 31, Mayor Maldonado was elected to the California State Assembly with 60% of the vote in the 33rd District, representing San Luis Obispo County and western Santa Barbara County. Maldonado was reelected in 2000 with 65% of the vote and in 2002 with 63% of the vote.
[edit] State Senate
In 2004, Maldonado was elected to the California State Senate by a margin of 53% to 43% over his opponent in a district evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. The 15th District spans San Luis Obispo County, most of Monterey County, eastern Santa Cruz County, portions of northwestern Santa Barbara County, and portions of southwestern Santa Clara County.
In March 2005, a San Luis Obispo weekly newspaper revealed that Maldonado had received $30,987 in gifts from an organization representing California's power industry.[2] Those gifts included multiple trips to Australia, Africa and Europe. The story suggested that the gifts might have motivated Maldonado to object to a seismic safety bill that could potentially have threatened Diablo Canyon Power Plant's license to operate. According to the story, Maldonado snapped at the reporter, "“I have never, ever, ever connected monetary resources with a bill or a special company in my area. For somebody to even suggest that is disappointing."[2]
[edit] Candidacy for State Controller
In 2005, Maldonado declared his candidacy for the office of California State Controller after Controller Steve Westly decided to run for Governor. Maldonado was defeated in the June 6, 2006 Republican primary by Tony Strickland.[3]
Following his loss, Maldonado publicly criticized Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for not supporting his campaign more forcefully, suggesting that Schwarzenegger doesn't care about Hispanics, when he told the Los Angeles Times that "[w]hen [Schwarzenegger] needs Latinos, Latinos are always there for him. When Latinos need him, the answer's been no."[4] Maldonado issued a public apology for the comment. Maldonado also maintains that he is no longer running for any further political offices.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
[edit] Offices held
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Tom Bordonaro |
California State Assemblyman 33rd District 1998–2004 |
Succeeded by Sam Blakeslee |
| Preceded by Bruce McPherson |
California State Senator 15th District 2004–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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