'Lieutenant governor’ gives voters useful info

Arizonans always should keep in mind that the official who oversees the state election system suddenly could have power to veto legislation and control a large portion of state government, if the governor became unable to do the job.

After all, it has happened five times in Arizona’s 95-year history, most recently in 1997 when then-Secretary of State Jane Hull replaced Fife Symington, who was forced to leave office by a felony conviction that was later overturned.

But with so many people moving here each year, it’s likely a sizeable number of voters don’t realize that the secretary of state is designated by the Arizona constitution as next in line if the current governor dies or resigns the post. It’s a fair assumption that many voters use different standards to judge a candidate who is competing to manage election records and business trademarks, versus someone who could be placed in charge of homeland security and public safety, the state’s welfare and child protection programs, and more than $20 billion in state and federal funds.

More voters would instinctively know to weigh a candidate’s potential skills as Arizona’s chief executive if the secretary of state was instead called lieutenant governor. The Legislature should pass a state constitutional amendment for voters to consider next year that would make this change as outlined in SCR1002, which has been filed by Sen. Chuck Gray, R-Mesa.

As Capitol Media Services reported in the Tribune Monday, only two other states designate the secretary of state as the governor’s replacement. Current Secretary of State Jan Brewer has been a consistent champion of the title of lieutenant governor. Unfortunately, Brewer’s bold support has been a political liability to this good idea, as some critics accused Brewer and her Republican allies of wanting to make it easier for her to run for governor.

That’s no longer an issue. SCR1002 says the title change wouldn’t take place until 2011, or after Brewer must leave the secretary of state’s office because of term limits.

SCR1002 also correctly avoids past attempts to assign more duties to a lieutenant governor to make the job more important. This merely would be a temptation to increase the size of the office, and add to the overall reach of government. A lieutenant governor would have plenty to do in carrying out the task of ensuring fair and impartial elections while dealing with the recent mandates by the federal government in this area.