Election Section

California Assemblyman Abel Maldonado is among legions of politicians, campaign workers, academics and businessmen whose futures may depend on the presidential election’s outcome.  

Maldonado, who drew one of the flashiest speaking slots at the GOP convention the night of George W. Bush’s nomination and campaigned urging Latinos to vote for him – is hoping for a job in a Bush administration.  

“Everybody has got their eyes on Florida,” Maldonado said of the state whose contested results hold the key to the next president.  

Declining to discuss his job prospects, he added, “I’m the son of two Hispanic field workers. To even hear that I would be considered is an honor.”  

Even in an ordinary election year, guessing who will win Cabinet slots and about 6,700 other political appointments is an intense and unpredictable parlor game.  

But the unresolved election keeps shuffling the deck before inauguration in mid- January, making supporters of Bush and Democratic Vice President Al Gore even more reluctant to discuss the possibilities.  

“It would be rank speculation,” said Lindsey Kozberg, spokeswoman for the Bush campaign in California. “It would also be somewhat premature.”  

Hundreds of the posts require Senate confirmation. Beyond those high-profile slots are thousands of jobs – many of them deputy such-and-suches and assistant so-and-sos – that campaign loyalists would typically queue up for by now.  

But the election has postponed the flood of resumes.  

“You've got a lot of people who worked in your campaign who say, ‘I want my reward,’” said Lyn Nofziger, who arrived in Washington as political director for then-President Reagan, who brought the last big wave of Californians to the White House. “There is a sense of urgency. You really don’t have a lot of time.”  

Bush and Gore partisans expect Golden State candidates to be featured prominently in the next administration.  

“Our state is a Kentucky Derby barn full of appointments,” said Bob Mulholland, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, declining to name names.  

One of Bush’s top picks would likely be Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser. Rice, a Stanford University provost, is on leave to advise the campaign on international affairs.  

Another shoo-in would be Kathleen Shanahan, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, who grew up in Ventura County and worked in former President Bush’s White House.  

Others who signed on early with the Bush campaign and have served in earlier administrations include Stanford economists John Cogan and Michael Boskin, venture capitalist Gerald Parsky and lawyer Ann Veneman.  

Former Gov. Pete Wilson's administration could provide Veneman, a former agriculture secretary, and Eloise Anderson, former director of social services.  

Business figures include investment banker Brad Freeman, lawyer Gary Mendoza and entrepreneur Hector Barreto.  

Politicians whose names have circulated include Matt Fong, a lawyer and former state treasurer who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1998, and gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren. 

Among Democrats, President Clinton may have already chosen the top prospects, such as Commerce Secretary Norm Mineta, the first Asian-American cabinet member and a former Silicon Valley congressman.  

Other Gore prospects include Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa and state Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres.  

Another candidate is Roberta Achtenberg, senior vice president for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. She was formerly an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for President Clinton and was a San Francisco supervisor.  

Villaraigosa is running for mayor of Los Angeles, but in a crowded field where candidates might take a certain federal post rather than role the dice on an election a year away.  

Another prospect from the mayor’s race is state Controller Kathleen Connell.  

“If Gore came up with an interesting job in Washington, she might go,” said Stanley Moore, a political science professor at Pepperdine University.  

Because of the narrow majority in both houses of Congress, neither party is expected to tap that usually reliable source of talent.  

“I don't expect to see Secretary Feinstein or Secretary Boxer,” said John Pitney Jr., associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. “On both sides there are a lot of people with resumes poised and those resumes are getting sweaty.”  

THE PLAYERS 

Bush 

• Condoleezza Rice, provost of Stanford University and Bush campaign surrogate on international affairs. Seen as probable national security adviser. 

• John Cogan, economist at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and former assistant secretary of U.S. Department of Labor and associate director at the Office of Management and Budget. 

• Michael Boskin, economist at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and former chairman of the president’s Council on Economic Advisers. 

• Kathleen Shanahan, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff who grew up in Ventura County. She also served as a staff assistant at the National Security Council and White House, and on former President Bush’s campaign. 

• Gerald Parsky, Bush chairman in California, chairman of the investment firm Aurora Capital Group and former assistant secretary of Treasury under President Ford. 

• Brad Freeman, investment banker at Freeman Spogli & Co. and Bush finance chairman in California. 

• Ann Veneman, a lawyer, former secretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture in the Wilson administration and former deputy undersecretary of the federal Department of Agriculture. 

• Eloise Anderson, a former director of the state Department of Social Services under Wilson. 

• Matt Fong, a lawyer and former state treasurer who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 1998. 

Gore 

• Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the first Latino elected statewide in 120 years and California’s first Latino speaker of the Assembly. 

• State Attorney General Bill Lockyer. 

• State Controller Kathleen Connell, a former investment banker who taught at UCLA and is running for Los Angeles mayor. 

• Antonio Villaraigosa, a former Assembly speaker who is running for Los Angeles mayor. 

• Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic Party and a former state senator and assemblyman. 

• Roberta Achtenberg, senior vice president for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. She was formerly an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and San Francisco supervisor. 

• U.S. Commerce Secretary Norm Mineta, the first Asian-American member of the cabinet and a former congressman from Silicon Valley. Appointed for the last six months of President Clinton’s term, he could be asked to stay.