What To and Not Do as Lieutenant Governor

Rick Sheehy, the (now-former) lieutenant governor of Kansas, and presumed sucessor to Gov. Dave Heinhman, resigned on Saturday morning after it was made public that he used his state-issued cell phone to place thousands of late-night calls to women. 

Quoting CNN:

Local media reported that Sheehy’s wife filed for divorce last year after a 29-year marriage she called “irretrievably broken.”
Sheehy said the split involved a “personal family matter,” according to the World-Herald, and that he had no plans to leave his job or quit his campaign.

It's pretty clear why him and his wife split up. He was probably fooling around, just like some of our elected officials do. I might believe in same sex marriage and having kids before marriage (but if you plan to have kids out of wedlock, please, for the love of God, guys, make sure your significant other/mother of your child is not in a relationship with anyone else AND has your engagement ring on her finger) but infidelity is something I CANNOT tolerate.

However, I want to, when I reach that point in my life and political career, run for lieutenant governor of New York. NY is the state where I was born, where I was raised, and at least have my kids spend some of their childhood here. The job is kind of like most lieutenant gubernatorial jobs in the United States: "get up, read the paper, see if the governor is dead, if not, go back to sleep" in the words of California political insiders. One of the perks of being Lieutenant Governor of New York, in the words of former Lt. Gov and MTA chairman Richard Ravitch, was a car with a driver. Now, if I ever take the job, I'll drive myself, but that being said, there's still a few things the guy does. Quoting the NYS Constitution (Article IV, statute 6):

The lieutenant-governor shall possess the same qualifications of
eligibility for office as the governor. The lieutenant-governor shall be
the president of the senate but shall have only a casting vote therein.
The lieutenant- governor shall receive for his or her services an annual
salary to be fixed by joint resolution of the senate and assembly.
In case of vacancy in the offices of both governor and lieutenant-governor,
a governor and lieutenant-governor shall be elected for the
remainder of the term at the next general election happening not less
than three months after both offices shall have become vacant. No
election of a lieutenant-governor shall be had in any event except at the
time of electing a governor.
In case of vacancy in the offices of both governor and lieutenant-governor
or if both of them shall be impeached, absent from the state or
otherwise unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of
governor, the temporary president of the senate shall act as governor
until the inability shall cease or until a governor shall be elected.
In case of vacancy in the office of lieutenant-governor alone, or if the
lieutenant-governor shall be impeached, absent from the state or
otherwise unable to discharge the duties of office, the temporary
president of the senate shall perform all the duties of lieutenant-governor
during such vacancy or inability.
If, when the duty of acting as governor devolves upon the temporary
president of the senate, there be a vacancy in such office or the
temporary president of the senate shall be absent from the state or
otherwise unable to discharge the duties of governor, the speaker of the
assembly shall act as governor during such vacancy or inability.
The legislature may provide for the devolution of the duty of acting
as governor in any case not provided for in this article. (Formerly §§7
and 8. Renumbered and amended by Constitutional Convention of 1938
and approved by vote of the people November 8, 1938; further amended
by vote of the people November 6, 1945; November 3, 1953; November
5, 1963; November 6, 2001.)

 And (Article VI, statute 24):

§24. The assembly shall have the power of impeachment by a vote of
a majority of all the members elected thereto. The court for the trial of
impeachments shall be composed of the president of the senate, the
senators, or the major part of them, and the judges of the court of
appeals, or the major part of them. On the trial of an impeachment
against the governor or lieutenant-governor, neither the lieutenant-governor
nor the temporary president of the senate shall act as a
member of the court. No judicial officer shall exercise his or her office
after articles of impeachment against him or her shall have been
preferred to the senate, until he or she shall have been acquitted. Before
the trial of an impeachment, the members of the court shall take an oath
or affirmation truly and impartially to try the impeachment according
to the evidence, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of
impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, or
removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any public
office of honor, trust, or profit under this state; but the party impeached
shall be liable to indictment and punishment according to law.
(Amended by vote of the people November 6, 2001.)

And according to Wikipedia, the Lieutenant Governor of New York sits on the SUNY ESF (Environmental Science and Forestry) Board of Trustees. Wonder if that means I can audit ESF and Syracuse University classes.

My lieutenant governor, Robert (Bob) J. Duffy, has duties that include: "Chair of the Regional Economic Development Councils", "Chair of the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission" and the aforementioned job as President of the State Senate.

And there are some lieutenant governors who have eyed the job. Take Matt Denn of Delaware. For him, the job is pretty much being another set of eyes for the governor and for helping get things accomplished in a teamwork manner. Sure, there's a narrow legal status for the deputy, but it's still a powerful position to some extent.

So the job is this: Wake up in the morning, report to your boss, sit on whatever committee he/she tells you to sit on and/or work on your pet projects. And if you are alerted that you're the top guy now, well, welcome! So, I look forward to in a few years campaigning for the job, despite what my family says. But if the stress gets to them, I'd be glad to sit out.

I'll deal with the Super Bowl tomorrow. The East Coast creamed the West.