State Sen. Abel Maldonado plans to run for state controller in a Republican primary next year against former Ventura County Assemblyman Tony Strickland. Maldonado, R-San Luis Obispo, a farmer who served three terms in the assembly, was elected to the Senate last fall in a competitive district that stretches from San Jose to his Santa Maria hometown. He is a close ally of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and co-chaired Schwarzenegger's election campaign during the recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis. "I'm a businessman -- that's a good first qualification," Maldonado said in a telephone interview Wednesday night. "I want to really focus...