How about Catherine Baker Knoll? The damage the she could do as Treasurer is miniscule compared to hwat she could do if something were to happen to Rendell.

but then the senate pro tempe (read: Republican) becomes Lt gov… I guess you pick your poison?

Awhile back IRT another CBK topic, I pulled up the relevent part of the state constitution and it seems to say if the LtGov resigns or there’s a vacancy, there’d be a special election to fill the office.

Oh dear god, a special election? I’m sure the Guv would love that.

I think the guv would like to have CBK somewhere other than as LtGov. Seriously, Ed’s got to be thinking about maintaining and expanding the successes he’s had in his first term and will have in his second. I think he’d like nothing better than to break the 8 year party switch in the governor’s mansion, but that means he needs a credible successor and CBK isn’t it.

Vacancy in Office of Lieutenant Governor

Section 14.

In case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify or resignation of the Lieutenant Governor, or in case he should become Governor under section 13 of this article, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall become Lieutenant Governor for the remainder of the term. In case of the disability of the Lieutenant Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. Should there be no Lieutenant Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall become Governor if a vacancy shall occur in the office of Governor and in case of the disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. His seat as Senator shall become vacant whenever he shall become Governor and shall be filled by election as any other vacancy in Senate.

Damn, I wish Rendell could just appoint his #2.

Appointing Power Section 8.

(b) The Governor shall fill vacancies in offices to which he appoints by nominating to the Senate a proper person to fill the vacancy within 90 days of the first day of the vacancy and not thereafter. The Senate shall act on each executive nomination within 25 legislative days of its submission. If the Senate has not voted upon a nomination within 15 legislative days following such submission, any five members of the Senate may, in writing, request the presiding officer of the Senate to place the nomination before the entire Senate body whereby the nomination must be voted upon prior to the expiration of five legislative days or 25 legislative days following submission by the Governor, whichever occurs first. If the nomination is made during a recess or after adjournment sine die, the Senate shall act upon it within 25 legislative days after its return or reconvening. If the Senate for any reason fails to act upon a nomination submitted to it within the required 25 legislative days, the nominee shall take office as if the appointment had been consented to by the Senate. The Governor shall in a similar manner fill vacancies in the offices of Auditor General, State Treasurer, justice, judge, justice of the peace and in any other elective office he is authorized to fill. In the case of a vacancy in an elective office, a person shall be elected to the office on the next election day appropriate to the office unless the first day of the vacancy is within two calendar months immediately preceding the election day in which case the election shall be held on the second succeeding election day appropriate to the office. (c) In acting on executive nominations, the Senate shall sit with open doors. The votes shall be taken by yeas and nays and shall be entered on the journal.

I think you could make a good argument that the Lt Gov office fits this section as well as Section 14.

Without looking at the state constitution for a moment: the appointment power that you see in that section is in regards to the office of the governor for things like secretary of education (which I think is mentioned specifically in that part). The part that you listed above even mentions specifically which row offices will be appointed by the governor. The Lt. Governor is not included in that list.

Section 14 was added as a seperate part and clearly spells out that the lt governor is replaced by the senate president pro temp. I don’t think there is a creative enough legal argument that would allow Rendell to make the appointment on his own. The key phrase from section 8 is “and in any other elective office he is authorized to fill.” Section 14 removes that power by setting aside a different process.

Sorry, but we need Dems to take control of the state senate for a Dem to become lt. gov in the event that CBK goes belly up

Well, I think it could be argued that the constitution does prefer special elections to fill vacancies in elected offices
even though Section 14 specifically addresses the office of Lt Gov.

If I was Rendell, I’d go ahead and appoint one and let the courts sort it out. It’s not like the state courts haven’t made some creative rulings as in the case of allowing legislators to take “unvouchered expenses” as immediate pay raises.

And, I guess we should ask what happens in the event of a senate vacancy? There’s a special election. Given that the Lt Gov’s only actual job is to preside over the state senate, why should that office be treated differently from a senate vacancy then? Perhaps the reason Senate Pro Temp is elevated to lt gov is because the lt gov is the presiding officer of that body.

why should that office be treated differently…

b/c the constitution says it is to be treated differently. I’m not disagreeing with you in the nature of your questions. I’m just saying that when the constitution says something, we don’t get to do something else b/c it would be a better approach. Change the constitution.

LV Dem and all others,

I think, if you read those two sections carefully, yes it is clear that Rendell has no appointment power here, BUT I think you can make the interpretation that the constitution also could be read to say that the next year we’d have a special election to permanently fill the seat. I’d like to see that.

That is how I originally interpreted it – the two clauses going together. It simply does not make sense for an office that is deemed important enough to be elected in the primary independently of the governor to be left vacant or filled by succession. I doubt there’s any other elective office that remains filled by the “next in line”, except the governorship,
without requiring a special election at the earliest opportunity.

Further, I’d guess that section 14 was added to address the lt gov moving up to governor, as happened in both the Casey and Ridge administrations. I doubt any thought was given to what should happen if, as could conceivably happen here, the lt gov is appointed to fill Casey’s spot thus moving within the administration.

I think there’s lots of room for argument and a court challenge could well produce a ruling that requires a special
election if the lt gov steps aside for something other than
replacing the governor.