John Nance " Cactus Jack " Garner , who served as vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941 , once dismissed the office of frailty president as worth less than a pitcher of warm piss [ source : Morrow ] . One can only imagine what even more repellant equivalence Cactus Jack would have cook up for a task that ’s even lower on the politicalfoodchain – the post of state lieutenant regulator .
Lieutenant regulator is a job that ’s held in such low regard that five states – Arizona , Maine , New Hampshire , Oregon and Wyoming – do n’t even bother having one [ reservoir : Hurst ] . In Minnesota , the state legislature latterly considered a marriage offer to reject the $ 78,000 - a - year job , on the grounds that the police lieutenant governor does n’t have enough to do to justify the earnings . " There is one section in the state composition that mentions the stead , saying that the lieutenant governor is elect with the regulator for purpose of succession , " Hamline University law school professor David Schultz testified in a hearing . " But outside of that , what do they do ? They hold off for the regulator to die , get grisly or go on vacation " [ generator : Sundquist ] .
But perhaps that ’s not wholly fairish . put up in for the state of matter ’s top executive is an of import job . The nation ’s 45 lieutenant governors sit on university boards and head government commissions . Many of them constitutionally preside over their state senates , which allows them to wield influence over statute law and occasionally to cast important linkup - break votes . When they ’re not doing that , they ’re stupefy for clench - and - grinning photos at Boy Scout dinners and the the likes of to enhance their name recognition with voters who may eventually elevate them to the top government agency . And let ’s confront it , that ’s what they normally hope for .
In this clause , we ’ll severalise you more about what police lieutenant governor do and why political leader clamor to be elected to the post . But first , lease ’s take a look at how they get into office in the first place .
Becoming Lieutenant Governor
Unless they ’re nominate by a regulator to make full in for a second - in - command who has died or leave office , lieutenant regulator are usually elected into government agency by voters . In some states ( Maryland is one example ) , they black market on a ticket with the gubernatorial candidate of their political parties [ reference : State of Maryland ] . In other states ( California is one example ) , they ’re listed on the ballot separately [ source : land of California ] . When they ’re list singly , it can run to an awkward situation in which the regulator and the police lieutenant regulator represent opponent party , which , as you might imagine , does n’t do wonderment for their power to work together .
For illustration , in the late seventies , Republican Mike Curb – a music manufacturer who penned the commercial-grade jingle " You see the Nicest People on a Honda ( Go Little Honda ) " – was elect second - in - command to liberal democratic Gov. Jerry Brown [ rootage : Mikecurb.com ] . While Brown was absent from the nation for retentive stretches during an unsuccessful presidential run , Curb took his place and used his authority to constitute Book of Judges , which created a political mint for Brown [ source : York ] .
There are n’t a luck of vocation prerequisites for deputy governor . Curb work the entertainment industry , while former Virginia Lt . Gov. Don Beyer sold car [ source : Kumar ] . Mike Huckabee , who was elect Arkansas lieutenant governor in 1993 and eventually became governor , was a Baptist pastor [ source : Orlando Sentinel ] .
A lot of police lieutenant governors have backgrounds serving in other government posts . Delaware Lt . Gov. Matt Denn was his state ’s insurance commissioner [ reservoir : State of Delaware ] . A peculiar quirk in Pennsylvania ’s constitution allowed Joe Scarnati to rise to lieutenant regulator and still keep his rump in the state Senate [ source : State of Pennslvania ] . Sean Parnell , who became regulator of Alaska when Sarah Palin step down in 2009 , worked as a legislator and as a private - sector attorney [ source : State of Alaska ] .
In the next part , we ’ll look at what lieutenant regulator do once they ’re in berth .
Lieutenant Governor Duties
Sometimes , lieutenant governor do n’t do anything . For good example , in the early 1990s , former Maryland Lt . Gov. Mickey Steinberg had a accrue out with his hirer , Gov. Parris Glendening , over tax legislation . Since the Maryland constitution lets the governor choose his second - in - command ’s duty , Glendening just ignored Steinberg for the next three years , giving him no grant accept minor ceremonial one [ source : Timberg ] .
Other deputy regulator take a relaxed approach to the job . In 2008 , the Orlando Sentinel newspaper stave obtained Florida Lt . Gov. Jeff Kottkamp ’s docket and get wind that over a 22 - month menses , there were 60 weekday – the combining weight of two months – in which Kotthamp had had no appointments at all . During that time , the state of matter also spent $ 425,000 on breeze flight of stairs for Kottkamp – two - third gear of which were trip to Fort Myers , where he own a vacation home . ( Kottkamp importune to the newspaper that his boss , Gov. Charlie Criss , in reality had hand him " lots of responsibilities , " and that his traveling was a sign of that ) [ rootage : O’Matz ] . Still others choose to have some fun on the job . Back in 1974 , former Delaware Lt . Gov. Gene Bookhammer once competed with fellow Republican politician Pete Du Pont in a contest to see who was quick at putting clothes on a distaff manikin . Bookhammer reportedly lost [ rootage : Cohen ] .
banter aside , the police lieutenant governor obviously is n’t always just a stand - in or a ceremonial form . In 30 states – Mississippi , Washington , North Carolina , and Texas , among others – the lieutenant governor also doubles as the presiding officeholder of the state senate . Many of them have the exponent to set rule and control the direction of debate , to determine which committees consider legislation and even to set the order in which note are considered . Several even have to exponent to pick which senator seat on various committees or chair them .
Such confidence can allow them to quietly wield significant king . South Carolina ’s lieutenant governor Andre Bauer has used his powers as preside senate officer to block more than $ 2 billion in proposed novel tax . And lieutenant governors from time to time even cast tie - breaking balloting on controversial legislating . In 2005 , when current North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue hold the issue two line , she cast a tie - breaking ballot to create a new statelottery[source : NLGA ] .
Lieutenant Governor Benefits
When San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running for the Democratic nominating address for governor of California in 2009 , he derided the lieutenant regulator ’s office as a " largely ceremonial post . " But a year later , after the race for regulator establish too competitory and costly , he abruptly change his position and threw his lid in the ring . Newsom ’s somewhat tall explanation was this : He had n’t previously appreciated the importance of the lieutenant governor ’s side duties , such as heading the California economic development military commission and serving as a University of California regent [ informant : Rothfeld ] .
pol often swallow up their superbia and attempt the deputy governor position because of one simple fact : It gives them name credit that will help them if they eventually pass for regulator . A cogitation by the National Lieutenant Governors Association get that between 1980 and 2006 , 56 lieutenant governors go on to become the governor of their states , equate to 53 state senators , 28 U.S. Congress member , 24 attorney generals and 19 city manager . The lieutenant regulator were outnumber only by the 96 state sign of the zodiac members who ascended to the top post . Because there are a multitude of legislator but only one lieutenant governor for each state , it turn out that the second - in - command has about a one in four luck of finally catch the top guy ’s chore . Meanwhile , a state forum member or representative has only a one in 100 shot [ source : NLGA ] .
That tell , deputy governors only seem to advance so far . While many lieutenant governors have gone on to become governors , only one – onetime Connecticut deputy regulator Calvin Coolidge – care to go all the mode to becomingU.S. President[source : Hurst ] .
