Former California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado has filed paperwork that'll enable him to fundraise for the governor's race. Republicans should be very happy with this. No one is going to beat Jerry Brown and everyone knows it. So someone has to take one for the team and get Republicans to the polls. Losing, perhaps losing badly, isn't a very attractive prospect and virtually no one was interested. Assemblyman Tim Donnelly expressed interest, but a Donnelly bid wouldn't be greeted positively by many Republicans. Donnelly is known for his hard line stance on immigration, a position Republicans don't want to project. Some people have speculated that a Donnelly candidacy would kill Republicans from the top of the ballot to the bottom.
Maldonado is a well known, handsome Hispanic. If anyone can help Republicans with Hispanics, it's him. He's experienced at fundraising and most everyone is comfortable with him. So he should be able to tap into Republican fundraising circles. He's added some experienced campaign staff, so he'll run a big league campaign.
Republicans remember that he committed heresy when he voted for the tax increase, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Republicans are deep in the minority in California. He could help the GOP appeal to squishy moderates. If the GOP is smart they'd rather be a RINO party than be irrelevant. They're irrelevant now.
Edit: Abel Maldonado has a website up
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