Maldonado re-election looks safe

California State Sen. Abel Maldonado appears to have in hand another term as state senator of the 15th State Senatorial District, without an opponent.

Maldonado campaign manager Brandon Gesicki said an attempt by a Pismo Beach attorney to get enough write-in votes in the June primary to be Maldonado's Democratic opponent in November appears to have fallen short.

"With the write-in votes and what's remaining, it's mathematically impossible," he said of the bid by Dennis Morris.

No Democrat formally filed papers to run against Maldonado, which prompted Morris to try a write-in effort.

In the most recent calculations, Morris had about 2,000 votes, short of the 3,689 votes he would need to qualify as the Democrat on the November ballot, with some ballots still to be counted in Santa Clara County.

Morris' chances may have also been affected by another write-in candidate on the Democratic side: Maldonado himself.

Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) said he wanted to be a potential Democratic write-in vote so that his mother, a Democrat, could vote for him before he's termed out of office in 2012.

Some suggested that state Democrats did not actively look for a candidate to challenge Maldonado - who is in a potential swing district in California - because Maldonado has worked with Senate Democrats in the past on such efforts as passing a state budget.

Last summer, Maldonado was one of two Republicans to cross party lines and vote for the budget, giving it the two-thirds vote it needed for passage.

Gesicki said that more likely, Democrats realized Maldonado was too popular in his district to try to unseat.

"What it reflects is people in the district and in Sacramento respect and appreciate Sen. Maldonado's leadership and independence," Gesicki said.