UPDATE: The Assembly failed to approve Maldonado on second attempt, with a final tally of 37-35. Click here for the story.
With Sen. Abel Maldonado's lieutenant governor nomination currently five votes short of clearing the Assembly, the Schwarzenegger administration is arguing that the lower house's failure to approve Maldonado's bid wouldn't kill the nomination.
"The Governor's office is officially interpreting the constitution to say that unless there are 41 votes against Senator Maldonado - he's our next Lt. Governor," Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Rachel Arrezola said in a statement. "If the Legislature interprets the constitution differently we're prepared to defend our position in court."
The Assembly's chief clerk disagreed with the governor's stance, saying that failure to secure a majority vote constitutes rejection.
After getting a thumbs-up from the Senate earlier this morning, Maldonado failed on first try to get the 41-vote majority he needs to be approved by the lower house.
Legislators' 90-day window to approve or reject the governor's nominee ends Feb. 21. The constitution states that if the nominee is "neither confirmed nor refused confirmation" by that point, he takes office.
Not that this constitutes a legal precedent, but the last time lawmakers rejected a nominee for constitutional office they had a majority of "no" votes. In 1988, the Senate rejected Dan Lungren's nomination as state treasurer with 19 votes for and 21 votes -- a majority -- against.
Assembly Republicans earlier went into caucus in advance of taking up a reconsideration of the first vote, which was 36-34 (click here to see the vote tally). Fresno Bee colleague E.J. Schultz is reporting the GOP Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, who is home sick with pneumonia, is en route to Sacramento now to cast a vote, which he says will be a yes vote for Maldonado.*
* UPDATE: This post was updated at 1:19 p.m. to include Gilmore's pledged vote.
Jim Sanders contributed to this report.
PHOTO CREDIT: Abel Maldonado on the Assembly floor today. Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee
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