Gubernatorial Succession Study
Fact Sheet and Reading List
8/31/05
42 states elect lieutenant governors, but not every lieutenant
governor is chosen the same way or has the same duties. See the National
Lieutenant Governor Association's website for individual state information:
http://www.nlga.us/
In 24 states the governor and lieutenant governor are
elected as a ticket: 13 states have the candidate for governor choosing
a running mate ;11 states have the party choosing its nominees for governor
and lieutenant governor separately.
In the other 18 states with lieutenant governors, each
candidate is elected separately, sometimes resulting in a governor from
one party and a lieutenant governor from another.
Among the 42 states that have a lieutenant governor, only
Georgia and Washington require a midterm election to fill a vacated
governor's office. To view these constitutions, see these websites:
Georgia: http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/conart5.htm
Washington: http://www.courts.wa.gov/education/constitution/index.cfm?fa=education_constitution.display&displayid=Article-03
The states that do not have lieutenant governors are Arizona,
Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, West Virginia and
Wyoming.
New Jersey is the only state where a person succeeds to
governor while retaining legislative powers of senate president or assembly
speaker. Source: http://www.nlga.us/
To view the gubernatorial succession plans for all 50
states, go to:
http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/NJProject/NJsuccession/Utah50stateanalysis.pdf
Suggested Reading Materials
If you have any problems getting to these links, contact
the LWVNJ office for a printed or emailed copy.
"Succession to the Office of Governor and Separation
of Powers: The Unfinished Business of the 1947 Constitution" (.pdf
file) -by Michael L. Ticktin, Rutgers Law Journal, Summer, 1998. A paper
on the historical background of current policy in New Jersey. http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/NJProject/NJsuccession/RULawJournal-succession.pdf
Amend the Lt. Governor Amendment, by David P. Rebovich, Ph.D., Managing
Director of the Rider University Institute for New Jersey Politics.
This is his view of the November 8th ballot question. http://politicsnj.com/rebovich041705.htm
This State Needs a Lieutenant Governor, by Ingrid Reed,
Director of the New Jersey Project at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.
A discussion of why New Jersey needs a lieutenant governor. Published
in January 2005. http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/NJProject/Reedarticles/Reed_NJBiz01-31.html
The People Should Choose Who Fills the Shoes, by Jon Shure,
President, New Jersey Policy Perspective. Discussion on gubernatorial
succession in New Jersey and the choices for making a change, including
the issue of adding a lieutenant governor. http://www.njpp.org/rpt_lg.html
To see a chart comparing lieutenant governors state by
state, go to the USA ToDay article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-24-lt-governors_x.htm
See the National Lieutenant Governor Association's Website
for individual state information: http://www.nlga.us/
The ballot question wording and interpretive statement
(at the end of the amendment). http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/ACR/100_I1.PDF
The Office of Legislative Services Fiscal Analysis: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/ACR/100_E1.HTM
