| New Jersey has always been considered to have one of the most powerful Governors in the nation, partially due the fact that the Governor position has been the only state-wide elected state official. Well, that has changed due to an amendment passed in 2006, and this year New Jersey voters get a chance to elect their first Lieutenant Governor: The job holder's main duty would be to fill in for an absent boss and to take over if the term is not completed. The idea was to prevent a repeat of the scenarios when governors Christie Whitman and James E. McGreevey resigned, leaving the office to Senate presidents whom voters did not choose in a statewide election.
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Supporters argue the job can be a vital step to statewide office, particularly for women and minorities. And a study from 1980 to 2006 by the National Lieutenant Governors Association showed 65 of 197 governors -- 25 percent -- once had served as second-in-command. -NJ,com
Gov. Jon Corzine (D) and GOP candidate Chris Christie must name their running mates by July 26. Of course, there have been a bunch of current or former Lt. Governors in the news recently. Govs. Jodi Rell (R-CT) and David Paterson (D-NY) are former Lt. Governors, and we're finding out more about Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R-SC) every day. And New York is a special case. With Paterson taking the Governor's slot, NY does not currently have a Lt. Governor. Why is that a real problem? Because the Lt. Governor gets a tie-breaking vote in the State Senate. And with no Lt. Governor, the State Senate is stuck in its current 31-31 state. Not to mention the fact that before the current redistricting, there were an odd number of districts, which also would have prevented the current stalemate. So we won't mention it... |
