Capitol Alert

Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado is running for reelection this year - as both a Republican and a Democrat.

The Santa Maria lawmaker turned in signatures earlier this week to qualify himself as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary of his 15th Senate District, though he is already unopposed for the GOP nomination.

Maldonado's campaign said the rare move was intended to give the moderate Republican's Democratic supporters - including his mom - the right to vote for him in the primary.

"Abel's mother, who is a Democrat, said, 'Son, I want to vote for you in the Democratic primary and I want it to count,' " said Brandon Gesicki, Maldonado's campaign manager. So the campaign gathered the necessary signatures this Monday and turned them in Tuesday, Gesicki said.

But Maldonado's write-in bid also serves a less familial, more partisan purpose.

By running now as a Democrat, Maldonado could beat back the underfunded Democratic write-in candidacy of local attorney Dennis Morris, who is hoping to face Maldonado in November.

"Abel Maldonado, in a Soviet Politburo style move, has employed (a write-in campaign) to deny Central Coast voters a choice in the November election," is how Robert Cruickshank, a blogger on the liberal Calitics blog, put it.

Under state law, candidates in California can't "crossfile" to be on the ballot for both major parties. But a Republican, such as Maldonado, can run as a write-in Democrat, and vice versa. The practice is rare but not unprecedented, according to the secretary of state's office.

Two examples in the past two decades are then-Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (now in Congress) running for reelection in both the Democratic and Republican primaries in 1994 and then-Assemblyman Jack O'Connell (now state superintendent of public instruction) doing the same thing in 1988.

If Maldonado were to beat Morris - and receive more than the 3,689 votes needed to qualify as a Democrat - he would be listed on the November ballot as both the Democratic and Republican nominee.

Jim Battin, a Republican colleague of Maldonado's in the state Senate, also saw a "strategic reason" to avoid having a Democrat on the ballot: saving money in the fall.

Maldonado represents the most Democratic-leaning Senate seat held by a Republican, with Democrats holding a four-point registration advantage (40 percent to 36 percent).

That means Morris' simple presence on the November ballot with the label "Democrat" next to his name would likely force Maldonado to actively campaign in a district that includes all or parts of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.

Gesicki insisted that blocking Morris from winning was "absolutely not" part of Maldonado's decision to run as a Democrat.

Morris, 44, said he decided to run as a write-in after no Democrats filed for the seat. "I felt it was important to have races contended by all sides," he said.

Mark Buchman, chairman of the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee, said he was surprised Maldonado would try to run as a Democrat.

"I can't imagine why somebody that's been an assemblyman and a senator and supposedly touts himself as being successful would feel like he needs to do this," said Buchman.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, gave Maldonado a half-hearted welcome to the Democratic fold.

"If he's halfway across the street," said Perata, "I encourage him to come the whole way."

Perata incurred the ire of liberal activists last summer when he said he would "knock on doors" for Maldonado after he voted for last year's budget.