The Santa Barbara County Republican Party Central Committee announced its endorsement of former lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado for U.S. Congress after a special meeting on July 9. The endorsement came a week after Maldonado, who was on a slate of Republican candidates including Mitt Romney for Congress and Elizabeth Emken for U.S. Senate, didn’t have the votes for a formal endorsement. Maldonado is taking on 14-year incumbent Lois Capps in the 24th Congressional District.
