Thread: The Lieutenant Governor position.....

Thank you very much astorian. Great point. I agree with you. The Lieutenant Governor position in the state of Texas is an excellent example of a working position, worthy of a salary. He/she has been given authority and respect by the state constitution, duties that are given to the President of the Senate in California. When working in Austin, I saw the lieutenant governor at almost every legislative session. In Sacramento, the lieutenant...

Quote: Originally Posted by CutterJohn Also, just because his vote is a tie breaker doesn't make it any less important.. The outcome of any vote in congress would be precisely the same if the position had a normal vote.. If it were 51 to 49, and he got a vote, the outcome wouldn't change either way. But usually a senator or two is absent. So if you had 50 yea and 49 nay, and the VP had a vote anyways, his no vote would make it a 50...

Quote: Originally Posted by Captain Amazing New York, actually. That was Governor Patterson's joke about his day as Lieutenant Governor. Michigan a long time ago.

Quote: Originally Posted by jtgain The one decent argument I've heard against a WV style no Lt. Gov position is the fact that a Governor's replacement would not be one elected by the people... It can also lead to a sudden, mid-term, change in which party controls the executive without an election. Granted this isn't as big a problem on the state level as it would be on the federal level since most states have a split executive...

I remember one year our Libertarian candidate for the position of Lt. Governor ran on the platform of ending the position of Lt. Governor.

Quote: Originally Posted by gonzomax One ex Lt. Gov of Michigan says the job is to call the Gov. in the morning. If he answers, go back to bed. New York, actually. That was Governor Patterson's joke about his day as Lieutenant Governor.

Why do we have a Vice President? And he makes $227,300.

IIRC, The Lt Gov of California fills in while the Governor is out of the state . So at least in California, he is acting Governor considerably more than other state's second-in-command.

Quote: Originally Posted by alphaboi867 Which can be problematic since the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of California are elected seperately instead of on the same ticket like most states (also POTUS & VPOTUS). This often leads to the Gov and Lt Gov being of different parties. Indeed. Famously, record executive and Republican Mike Curb was Lt. governor during Jerry Brown's governorship, and vetoed legislation and issued...

Arizona has no Lieutenant Governor. Jan Brewer was Secretary of State and became governor when Napolitano resigned. Interestingly, the Governor of Arizona does tend to resign fairly frequently. I have no idea who breaks ties in the Senate. However, Republicans are so dominant that I doubt it comes up often.