Abel Maldonado Email & Phone Number

The oldest son of immigrant field workers, Abel Maldonado was born in Santa Maria, California where he later worked in the fields picking strawberries alongside his father to help support the family. After attending college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Abel returned to the family's half-acre farm and helped grow it into a company with over 250 employees that now farms over 6,000 acres.As he worked to grow the family farm, Abel grew disillusioned with city hall bureaucracy after months of delays to obtain approval to build a cooling facility on their land. Rather than just complain, Abel took action, and chose to run for the Santa Maria City Council in 1994 at the age of 26 and won. Two years later, at the age of 28, he was elected Mayor. STATE LEGISLATURE. Abel Maldonado was elected to the California State Assembly in 1998 and served for three terms, after which he was elected to the State Senate for two terms.In the legislature, Abel earned 100% ratings from the California Taxpayers Association and California Chamber of Commerce. He was named “Legislator of the Year” by the California Veterans of Foreign Wars, Crime Victims United, and the California League of Middle Schools Association. Abel was also named Hi-Tech Legislator of the Year three different times and honored with the Hi-Tech Legislator Lifetime Achievement Award. LT. GOVERNOR. Abel Maldonado was sworn in as California's Lt. Governor on April 27, 2010. He was nominated for the post by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and confirmed by both houses of the California State Legislature. After serving as California’s 48th Lt. Governor, Abel returned to his roots and to the family ranch to help run the farm and live with his wife, Laura, and their four children Erika, Nicolas, Marcus, and Galdino.