The Next Ted Cruz? Abel Maldonado Eyes CA Governorship

By Tony Castro, Voxxi

Is California ready for Latino governor? And a Republican at that?

Former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado says he’s thinking of following in the footsteps of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and hopes the Lone Star State is ready.

On the heels of the GOP’s state convention, Maldonado says he is seriously considering considering challenging Democratic incumbent Jerry Brown in 2016, hoping to capitalize on wooing the state’s large Hispanic vote.

“I’ve been encouraged publicly, and privately,” says Maldonado. “At this point in time, I’m seriously thinking about it. I think I need to decide sooner rather than later.”

An uphill race?

Abel Maldonado would be taking on a three-term governor, and he would be trying to win a statewide race without the advantage Cruz enjoyed when he made history in Texas last year where Republicans have been in charge for almost a generation.

Many Republicans are also privately hoping for a Maldonado candidacy, fearing that the party could veer even further to the right should it back a conservative who could further alienate Latino voters.

Those GOP members are concerned about the possible gubernatorial candidacy of conservative Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, whose former membership of the anti-illegal immigration Minutemen Project is sending chills through the party.

Maldonado, however, may just be the face the GOP needs in an election that the gubernatorial candidate will likely face an uphill battle trying to unseat Brown.

Abel Maldonado and his Mexican roots

The son of an immigrant farm worker from the state of Jalisco, Mexico, Maldonado would be a dramatic departure from past Republican candidates on a statewide ticket.

His family worked the fields of the Central Coast and eventually established its own successful strawberry growing business.

“When I was picking strawberries, and I had strawberry stains on my pants and no [water] cooler in the fields, people said, ‘that guy’s on suicide mission,’” he recalled in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Those are the prices you have to pay to achieve what you want to achieve. Hard work? I’m not afraid of that.”

In 2009, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Maldonado to fill a vacant lieutenant governor position, but he was defeated the following year when he tried to win the seat for himself.

Maldonado is a conservative whose drawbacks are that he has no ready-made political base and last his last three campaigns.

Republicans also make up only 29 percent of state’s registered voters, compared to 44 percent for Democrats.

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Los Angeles based writer Tony Castro is the author of the critically-acclaimed “Chicano Power: The Emergence of Mexican America” and the best-selling “Mickey Mantle: America’s Prodigal Son.”