Capps and Maldonado win in Central Coast House district (LA Times)

[pinto]

Capps and Maldonado win in Central Coast House district

By Jean Merl
June 5, 2012

Republicans and Democrats will battle this fall over a newly drawn congressional district where Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) and former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) were the top vote-getters in Tuesday's primary election.

A serious reelection challenge to Capps was almost assured after an independent commission last summer redrew her district, which was once Democrat-friendly but was also derided as the "ribbon of shame" for its blatantly gerrymandered shape along the coast.

In the new district, Democrats have only a slight edge over Republicans, 39%-35%, and a fifth of voters are not affiliated with a political party.

Maldonado, a former state senator who angered members of his own party by voting in 2009 to raise taxes to help erase a state budget deficit, had the backing of Republican leaders for the congressional race.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-capps-and-maldonado-win-in-central-coast-house-district-m,0,592431.story?track=rss

[KamaAina]

1. I should have known Maldonado had an ulterior motive

he's the SOB who saddled us with Prop 14 to begin with, as his pound of flesh for breaking ranks with his fellow repukes and voting to pass the budget a couple of years ago. He never intended for it to get "more moderates" elected, just him.

[pinto]

2. Yeah, he's an ambitious one, that's for sure.

Doesn't have the meanness of a Cantor or McCarthy but he's a planner...and has 3,000 mile plane trip every so often. I bet it's his plotting time...

[Retrograde]

3. VP material for Romney?

Or whoever gets the GOP nod in 2016?

[KamaAina]

4. Nah. Too moderate.

That's how he got in the position of being the deciding vote on that budget in the first place. The hard-core anti-taxers were holding their collective breath until they turned blue, until he finally broke the stalemate.