California State Sen. Abel Maldonado, the man behind cutting pay for himself and his fellow California state legislators, has been tapped by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the state's lieutenant governor post.
John Garamendi's election to U.S. Congress has left the California post vacant.
Sen. Maldonado, currently representing the 15th Senate District, which spans from Santa Maria to Santa Cruz, must be confirmed by the State Legislature. The governor cited Sen. Maldonado's affinity for bipartisanship among the reasons for his decision.
Sen. Maldonado, the eldest son of Mexican immigrant workers, picked strawberries alongside his parents. But from these humble beginnings, the senator went on to graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In his twenties, he turned his attention to politics, eventually ascending to the Santa Maria City Council at the young age of 26. Two years later, he was the mayor of Santa Maria. In 1998, he won his bid for state assembly, and was reelected in 2000 and 2002. In 2004, he was elected to his current position.
