California’s 15th district state Senate race is shaping up to be a true David and Goliath-like contest.
The incumbent: Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria), career politician seasoned by experience of work at a local and state level.
The challenger: Jim Fitzgerald, a to-be United Parcel Service retiree and independent candidate with no political experience and significantly different campaigning style than that of Maldonado.
Maldonado entered into the political arena in 1996 when he won the mayoral election in Santa Maria. Following one term as mayor, Maldonado picked up a State Assembly seat in 1998, where he served the maximum three terms before running for and winning the election for State Senator of the 15th district by defeating Democrat Peg Pinard and Green Party Candidate Brook Madsen with 52.8 percent of the vote in 2004.
Fiztgerald decided to enter the race earlier this year when he realized that Maldonado would have run unopposed. Being an independent, Fitzgerald, an accounts manager with UPS, was required to obtain more than 13,000 signatures by Aug. 8 in order to get his name on the Nov. 4 ballot. The established Democratic and Republican parties require only 60 signatures.
Though Maldonado could not be reached by press time, his campaign manager Brandon Gesicki said that Maldonado has been a key advocate of alternative energy programs and legislation. Gesicki also said in a telephone interview that among Maldonado’s more notable actions as state senator is that he has “supported education funding.”
Alternative energy implementation is a hot-button topic for Fitzgerald as well. The independent candidate said that his first goal would be to draft a bill that would require the state to purchase hybrid vehicles when replacing state vehicles.
“That’s a proven technology,” Fitzgerald said of hybrid vehicle technology.
On the campaign contribution side of the election, Maldonado has managed to raise more than a million dollars.
Fitzgerald did not disclose the amount that he has raised for his campaign so far but mentioned that he will only accept campaign contributions of $20 or less per person and also said that rather than accepting a donation he would rather have a person tell six people about his campaign than to accept a donation.
“I don’t want to have anyone trying to influence my vote,” Fitzgerald said.