Lieutenant governor hits late night

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Two days after being sworn in as a statewide official, Lt. Gov Abel Maldonado will face his first real challenge Thursday: Stephen Colbert.

The Santa Maria Republican will appear on Comedy Central’s ‘The Colbert Report’ to discuss Proposition 14, the open-primary measure on November’s ballot that he has pushed. It’s unclear how much interest Colbert will have in that; wonky election rules aren’t especially funny. So it will be interesting to see how the earnest-seeming Maldonado interacts with the off-kilter Colbert.

It is the second time in six months that the somewhat obscure California lieutenant governor’s post has drawn attention on nighttime national television. As a guest on ‘The Jay Leno Show’ late last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he was appointing Maldonado. The governor will appear with Leno again Thursday, this time on ‘The Tonight Show.’

--Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento