State Senate Confirms Lt. Governor Pick

SACRAMENTO -The state Senate has voted to confirm Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pick for California lieutenant governor, sending the nomination to the Assembly.

Senators voted 26-7 on Thursday in favor of Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria. If the Assembly approves him later in the day, he would fill the seat that has been vacant since Democrat John Garamendi won a congressional seat last fall.

Maldonado, a 42-year-old son of farmworkers, would become the highest-ranking Hispanic in state government.