After running as a write-in candidate on the Democratic ballot line in June, Abel Maldonado is now buying spots on Democratic slate mailers, even though he is facing only token opposition from independent Jim Fitzgerald.  This guy REALLY doesn’t want to self-identify as a Republican.

Independent state senate candidate Jim Fitzgerald accused incumbent Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) of wanting to have it both ways, running as a Republican but appearing on slate mailers for Democratic and independent voters.

“I wonder if John McCain would have let him speak at the RNC if he knew that Abel would be paying for flyers that tell voters to vote for Barack Obama,” said Fitzgerald, a retired UPS worker who is self-financing his campaign, in a press release. “I wonder if the Republican Party would have contributed over $50,000 to Abel’s campaign if they knew that he was going to pay $12,000 to appear on literature that promotes the Democratic ticket.”

This is another reason why Don Perata’s bullying of Democrats to keep them out of the race against Maldonado was such a failure.  He wouldn’t have an opportunity to buy his way onto these slate mailers if there was a Democratic candidate.  And so he gets to position himself as an independent-minded reformer instead of the down-the-line Yacht Party Republican he is, for the most part.  This enhances Maldonado’s public image at precisely the time when he is likely to run for statewide office (I know he lost the primary for the Controller’s race in 2006, and afterward claimed that he’ll never run for office again, but I don’t buy it).  He spoke at the RNC this year, a clear sign that the party views him as a rising star.  The proper move for opposing parties is to try and cripple the other side’s rising star.  You don’t enable them when they can come back and beat you years later.

Thanks a lot, Don Perata, don’t forget to pick up your parting gift in a month…

Despite Don Perata’s extreme efforts to keep Democrats off the ballot to face his BFF Abel Maldonado in a plurality-Democratic district, Jim Fitzgerald has succeeded in getting enough petitions to mount a challenge on the November ballot.  This is from his press release:

Independent Candidate, Jim Fitzgerald, is building support to unseat Abel Maldonado on November’s Ballot.

“I am running for office to bring independent thinking and change to Sacramento.   Our state is still operating without an approved budget.  The price of gas is out of control.  Schools should not pay the price for wasteful government spending.  These are just a few of the issues that are important to me and the citizens of our district.”   (Independent Candidate Jim Fitzgerald)

Fitzgerald is not a career politician beholden to any party. He is an ordinary citizen who wants to breakup the gridlock in the State Senate divided on party lines.

Fitzgerald has worked for UPS for over 30 years ending his career as an account manager. He had personal dealings daily with small businesses throughout the Central Coast.  Working from the ground floor up, he knows what it is like to work long days in order to support a family.  Fitzgerald is not a professional politician but rather a hard working individual who will give back to the very people he is supposed to be representing.

Now, Fitzgerald is an independent candidate, not a Democrat.  But his issue positions certainly lean Democratic.  His main proposal on his website concerns modernizing the government fleet to make every state-issued car a hybrid or electric vehicle.

This is obviously longer than a longshot, but I appreciate Fitzgerald’s efforts if only to force Don Perata to make good on his word to walk precincts for his good buddy Abel in the fall.  That’ll be a good use of time for the guy who just got $250,000 for his legal defense fund from the CDP.