Is A Lieutenant Governor Even Needed Anymore?
When Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced he was not going to seek re-election as Gov. Hochul’s running mate next year, it should not have come as any surprise to those who follow New York government.
The relationship between governors and their lieutenant governors has too often been more a marriage of convenience than a true partnership. Egos and political ambitions often sour the relationships, if there was one in the first place.
Gov. George Pataki’s first lieutenant governor, Betsy McCaughey, ultimately ran against him and lost—but not before drawing attention to herself during his first State of the State address by standing up the entire time behind him.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a strained relationship with Lt. Governor—and now Governor— Kathy Hochul to the point where his administration had wanted to boot her from the 2018 ticket and was again discussing it before his resignation in 2019.
But one really has to look at what happened with Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo, and his first LG, Alfred DelBello, a political shot-gun marriage if there ever was one. Cuomo was running for governor for the first time in1983. His preferred running mate was H. Carl McCall, a former state senator and ambassador under President Jimmy Carter.
Cuomo’s Democratic primary opponent, New York City Mayor Ed Koch, chose DelBello as his preferred lieutenant governor candidate. Cuomo beat Koch in the primary but DelBello defeated McCall, meaning both winning candidates had to run together in the general election as a ticket. Cuomo virtually ignored DelBello during the election and once in office. With no official role and no relationship with Cuomo, DelBello quickly became bored and resigned in year two of a four-year term.
There are even more examples over the past five decades of the dysfunction fueled by political ambition involving lieutenant governors.
All this begs the question: Does New York even need a lieutenant governor anymore?
Besides having the power to preside over the state Senate, the lieutenant governor’s role is mainly one of waiting in the on-deck circle. Sure, they cut ribbons at events the governor can’t attend. And yes, some like Andrew Cuomo’s first Lieutenant Governor, Robert Duffy, were given more meaty portfolios.
But for too many others, it was a thankless job for previously successful politicians used to being in the mix. David Paterson, who served as lieutenant governor before ascending to the top spot when Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned in disgrace, used to joke that when he was LG, he’d wake up early in the morning, call the governor, and if he answered the phone, his job was done for the day.
Paterson told me this week that it’s worth discussing whether the LG role is outdated in New York. “Getting rid of it definitely would eliminate the perception of the lieutenant governor as someone who just sits around biding his time waiting for something bad to happen to (the governor),” he said.
In the old days, any time the governor left the state, the lieutenant governor was temporarily in charge. But with today’s communications, such a requirement is unnecessary—and often ignored. And yes, LGs must be prepared to take over at a moment’s notice should something happen to the governor, but as the Delgado’s estrangement from Hochul shows, that is not really an argument here. Most lieutenant governors who suddenly ascended the job were not plugged into the major details of their administrations and were forced to learn the ropes of being governor as they went along.
Five states don’t even have a lieutenant governor and two others merge the title with their state Senate president. New Jersey only established the position of lieutenant governor in 2005, with its first being elected in 2009. Prior to that, the state Senate President was next in line should something happen to the governor.
Maybe officially designating the governor’s secretary of state, like in Arizona, Wyoming, and Oregon, or the Senate president, like in New Hampshire, Maine, West Virginia, and Tennessee, is all that’s really needed before the public can choose a replacement in a special or general election. Making such a change in New York would require a state Constitutional amendment in which two successively elected Legislatures would vote to approve it and then a public referendum would be held, meaning the earliest it could happen would be for the 2030 gubernatorial election cycle.
The key argument for keeping the post is the succession issue should something happen to a governor. But here in New York we’ve seen enough cases where lieutenant governors are simply administration ornaments with no real value or purpose, unless, as Paterson joked, the governor did no answer the call in the morning. But if asked, do you think Hochul would prefer Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins take over if she left office mid-term for whatever reason or Delgado?
New York City has deputy mayors who serve at the pleasure of the mayor. But should a mayor leave office early for whatever reason, it is the Public Advocate, not a deputy mayor, who takes over until either a special election is held within 80 days or until the general election, depending on when the vacancy occurred.
If the state sought to change the order of succession, Paterson, who dubbed New York City’s mayoral succession process “the best system of all,” would prefer seeing an elected Senate president next in line rather than an unelected secretary of state, assuming the job will be temporary until an election can be held.
The reality is, few people know a lieutenant governor unless there is a crisis with the governor.
And running on a joint ticket doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing. But having a case like we do now, where the sitting lieutenant governor has broken ranks and yet won’t resign, serves no one other than Delgado, who continues to draw his $210,000 annual salary while having a platform that could work in opposition to the governor as he considers running against her next year.
Maybe the best option is to do away with the position entirely.
Lovett was a long-time award-winning reporter who covered the New York State Capitol for 25 years.
