State Sen. Abel Maldonado, recently tapped by the governor to replace outgoing Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, said Friday he's not fazed by his latest rival for the lieutenant governor seat: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
"I feel I can beat Gavin Newsom," said Maldonado, who represents part of Santa Cruz County and is considered a moderate Republican. "I've been reasonable, pragmatic, and I think the voters of California want someone who has been bipartisan."
Newsom, who dropped out of the governor's race last year, announced Friday morning that he will compete for the state's No. 2 job in the upcoming Democratic primary. Maldonado, meanwhile, is running in the Republican primary and hopes, before the June contest, to seal his nomination to the vacant post, giving him the advantage of incumbency come the election.
"I don't know much about Gavin. I just know what I read," Maldonado said. "Obviously the people of San Francisco think he's a good representative, and they've elected him twice.... I welcome him to the race."
The office of lieutenant governor is largely ceremonial, with the exception of filling in when the governor's absent and casting votes on a number of key committees. Some have used the seat as a springboard to higher office. Garamendi left last year after being elected to Congress.
Newsom, 42, will face Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn in the lieutenant governor primary, a challenge many say won't be easy for a San
Francisco politician known to the rest of the state as the mayor who allowed gay marriage at City Hall.
"We tend to live in a bubble in Northern California. We extrapolate from that that he has statewide popularity and he's yet to prove that," said Larry Gerston, a professor of politics at San Jose State University.