Picking the Lt. Governor
One of the people on this list will become the second highest elected official of the State of Wisconsin: Lieutenant Governor (LG):
Spencer Coggs, Tom Nelson, Harry Sanders, James Schneider,Brett Davis, Rebecca Kleefisch, Robert Lorge, Dave Ross, Terry Virgil and Nick Voegeli. The first four are seeking the Democratic nomination, the next four are running as Republicans, Virgil is a Libertarian and Voegli is an independent. The field is crowded this year since incumbent Barbara Lawton (like Governor Doyle) has declined to seek re-election.
The Lieutenant Governor becomes Acting Governor if the Governor is disabled or out of the State (except while commanding the Wisconsin National Guard), and becomes Governor if the incumbent dies or otherwise leaves office . (1) Martin Schreiber and Scott McCallum both became Governor this way, but neither one could win the next election to keep the office.
Until 1979 the LG presided over the State Senate, but no longer. While waiting for the Governor to "buy the farm" or otherwise leave office, the LG has no powers or duties of office. In practice, recent Governors have assigned their LG's honorific roles such as leading task forces, making speeches, and so on. But the Governor is under no legal obligation to give the LG any work at all, and if he does assign the LG a project, the LG is under no legal obligation to do it. For this reason, it is essential that the Governor and LG work as a team; otherwise, the office is totally useless. (2)
Under current Wisconsin election law, the nominee of each party for LG is selected at the September Primary, then the nominees for Governor and LG run as a team in the November General Election. This method is a recipe for political disaster, since the nominees might be political foes. (3) A ticket like that would probably lose, but if it were elected, the LG could spend the next four years doing nothing but undercutting the Governor and working for his ouster. Even if the nominees are friends, they might come from the same county, so the ticket would be geographically unbalanced. (4) Of course, the winner of the LG primary might also be a total idiot, which would also drag down the ticket. (OK, this could happen for any office, but the difference is that the LG nominee also drags down another, perhaps far better, candidate as well as himself. This is only true for Lieutenant Governor, and no other office.)
I propose that Wisconsin abolish the primaries for LG. Instead, each nominee for Governor should file a Certificate of Nomination for Lieutenant Governor within 10 days after winning the primary, and that the LG nominee should be required to sign an acceptance of the nomination at the same time. Here are the advantages of this plan, which resembles that used to select nominees for Vice President of the United States:
Party Unity: After a hotly-contested gubernatorial primary, the winner might offer the runner-up the LG nomination, thus unifying major sectors of a fractured party. Even if the two candidates had been bitter rivals, the offer of the second spot on the ticket could go a long way toward healing the rift. If this plan were in effect now, the Republicans could field a Walker-Neumann ticket (or the reverse). None of the four contenders for the GOP nomination (listed above) brings any political strength to the ticket.
Better Candidates: The nominees for Governor will have a strong incentive to choose a credible candidate for LG, since they will be on the ballot together.
A More Useful LG: Since the LG will owe his office to the Governor, he or she will be a more loyal and useful member of the administration. Should the Governor leave office, the transition will be smoother.
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(1) Wisconsin Constitution, Article V, Section 7.
(2) Significantly, if the office of LG becomes vacant, it stays vacant for rest of the term. The Secretary of State is next line for Governor if there is no LG.
(3) This happened in Illinois, which has the same procedure as Wisconsin. When a supporter of fascist Lyndon LaRouche won the Democratic primary for LG, the gubernatorial nominee (Adlai Stevenson III) resigned from the ticket, which then lost the General Election.
(4) If State Senator Coggs wins the Democratic LG nominee, and Tom Barrett is nominated for Governor, both candidates on the ticket will be from the City of Milwaukee, a weakness that could sink the ticket.
Spencer Coggs, Tom Nelson, Harry Sanders, James Schneider,Brett Davis, Rebecca Kleefisch, Robert Lorge, Dave Ross, Terry Virgil and Nick Voegeli. The first four are seeking the Democratic nomination, the next four are running as Republicans, Virgil is a Libertarian and Voegli is an independent. The field is crowded this year since incumbent Barbara Lawton (like Governor Doyle) has declined to seek re-election.
The Lieutenant Governor becomes Acting Governor if the Governor is disabled or out of the State (except while commanding the Wisconsin National Guard), and becomes Governor if the incumbent dies or otherwise leaves office . (1) Martin Schreiber and Scott McCallum both became Governor this way, but neither one could win the next election to keep the office.
Until 1979 the LG presided over the State Senate, but no longer. While waiting for the Governor to "buy the farm" or otherwise leave office, the LG has no powers or duties of office. In practice, recent Governors have assigned their LG's honorific roles such as leading task forces, making speeches, and so on. But the Governor is under no legal obligation to give the LG any work at all, and if he does assign the LG a project, the LG is under no legal obligation to do it. For this reason, it is essential that the Governor and LG work as a team; otherwise, the office is totally useless. (2)
Under current Wisconsin election law, the nominee of each party for LG is selected at the September Primary, then the nominees for Governor and LG run as a team in the November General Election. This method is a recipe for political disaster, since the nominees might be political foes. (3) A ticket like that would probably lose, but if it were elected, the LG could spend the next four years doing nothing but undercutting the Governor and working for his ouster. Even if the nominees are friends, they might come from the same county, so the ticket would be geographically unbalanced. (4) Of course, the winner of the LG primary might also be a total idiot, which would also drag down the ticket. (OK, this could happen for any office, but the difference is that the LG nominee also drags down another, perhaps far better, candidate as well as himself. This is only true for Lieutenant Governor, and no other office.)
I propose that Wisconsin abolish the primaries for LG. Instead, each nominee for Governor should file a Certificate of Nomination for Lieutenant Governor within 10 days after winning the primary, and that the LG nominee should be required to sign an acceptance of the nomination at the same time. Here are the advantages of this plan, which resembles that used to select nominees for Vice President of the United States:
Party Unity: After a hotly-contested gubernatorial primary, the winner might offer the runner-up the LG nomination, thus unifying major sectors of a fractured party. Even if the two candidates had been bitter rivals, the offer of the second spot on the ticket could go a long way toward healing the rift. If this plan were in effect now, the Republicans could field a Walker-Neumann ticket (or the reverse). None of the four contenders for the GOP nomination (listed above) brings any political strength to the ticket.
Better Candidates: The nominees for Governor will have a strong incentive to choose a credible candidate for LG, since they will be on the ballot together.
A More Useful LG: Since the LG will owe his office to the Governor, he or she will be a more loyal and useful member of the administration. Should the Governor leave office, the transition will be smoother.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Wisconsin Constitution, Article V, Section 7.
(2) Significantly, if the office of LG becomes vacant, it stays vacant for rest of the term. The Secretary of State is next line for Governor if there is no LG.
(3) This happened in Illinois, which has the same procedure as Wisconsin. When a supporter of fascist Lyndon LaRouche won the Democratic primary for LG, the gubernatorial nominee (Adlai Stevenson III) resigned from the ticket, which then lost the General Election.
(4) If State Senator Coggs wins the Democratic LG nominee, and Tom Barrett is nominated for Governor, both candidates on the ticket will be from the City of Milwaukee, a weakness that could sink the ticket.
Labels: Lieutenant Governor, Wisconsin
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 11:41 AM
3 Comments:
I have a better idea.
Since LG is a useless postion as you point out, then eliminate the position and save us all the money. We are 2.5 billion in the hole and adding a useless politico is a waste of money.
If the Governor dies the head (whatever position that is) of the legislature can take over until a new governor is appointed or elected.
This comment has been removed by the author.
The problem with your and Ivan's ideas is that in the event the governor dies or leaves office, you have a governor who was not elected statewide. That was the thinking behind the way the system was set up. Not saying it's right or perfect, just saying, that's why Wisconsin's founders did it that way.
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