Lawmakers: Gov & Lt. Gov Should Be Paired

By Kevin Lee, Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD – Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor may soon share the same electoral fate on party ballots.

Lawmakers are contemplating proposals that would link gubernatorial candidates and their hand-picked running mates in the primary election.

As of now, party voters elect candidates for both offices separately. The winners of each contest are paired together to complete their party's ticket for the general election.

State Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, said the idea to run candidates as a team gained momentum after party voters selected candidates in last month's primary who were not vetted by either party's brass.

In the February primary, Democratic voters chose pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen as Gov. Pat Quinn's running mate. Cohen stepped down from the nomination in part because of concerns over a previous domestic abuse allegation.

During that same primary election, Republican voters elected 27-year-old businessman and political newcomer Jason Plummer as the party's nominee for lieutenant governor.

"You have two men of financial wealth who were able to garner significant support based on their financial abilities," Sacia said.

State Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, said it made sense to pair candidates for governor and lieutenant governor in the primary.

"Otherwise you end up with governors who don't get to pick their lieutenant governor, who may not get along at all with their lieutenant governor as was the case in the previous (general) election," Bradley said.

State Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Rock Island, said a linked primary would provide an important test of a gubernatorial candidate's vetting skills.

He added that voters would be more likely to scrutinize both candidates during a primary election.

"I think it'll add more importance to the lieutenant governor's job, rather than him just being a figurehead," Verschoore said.

State Rep. Dave Winters, R-Rockford, would like to see a system where the party's nominee for governor selects a running mate after the primary election is completed.

"He has the resources as the nominee to scour the state and look for a good back-up, somebody who on the first day is capable of stepping in to the governor's office without a huge transition or training period," he said.

But State Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Sycamore, does not want to remove voters from the process of selecting nominees for lieutenant governor.

"I think this process is the probably the best that we can do. It gives voters a chance to know who the running mates are and can better evaluate the judgment of the (candidates for) governor," he said.

Most lawmakers have already thrown their support behind various proposals to link the governor and lieutenant governor on the primary ballot, and will likely pass legislation to Quinn in the coming weeks.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is pushing a constitutional amendment that would abolish the post of lieutenant governor, effective with the 2014 general election. However, a constitutional amendment must be approved by three-fifths of the members of both chambers before it can be put on the ballot for voters.