ROGERS -- Efforts to abolish the office of lieutenant governor drew mixed reactions Friday from Northwest Arkansas state House candidates.
State Sens. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, and Jimmy Hickey Jr., R-Texarkana, announced Thursday they will sponsor a resolution to abolish the office. Such a state constitutional change would require voter approval. The Legislature can refer proposed constitutional amendments to the 2016 ballot.
Ingram called the lieutenant governor's office a "vestige of the early 19th century." Hickey cited the cost of the largely ceremonial office with a budget of $450,000 a year.
Five candidates for the state House addressed the topic in a forum hosted by the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce, meeting at chamber headquarters. No two candidates fully agreed.
Doing away with the lieutenant governor's office would require designating another constitutional officer to succeed the governor, said Grant Hodges, Republican nominee for House District 96 in northeast Benton County.
"When voters choose a lieutenant governor, they have in mind who they want as a backup governor," Hodges said. "That's not the same thing they have in mind when voting for a secretary of state or an attorney general."
Hodges would prefer to keep the office but have the governor and lieutenant governor run on the same ticket, he said. Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, would have been succeeded by Lt. Gov. Mark Darr, a Republican who disagreed with the governor's priorities on health care spending and other issues, under the current system. Darr resigned in February after admitting he violated campaign finance and ethics laws.
Hodge's Democratic opponent, Tom McClure of Rogers, favored keeping the office because it has historically served an important role in providing an "ambassador for Arkansas."
Michael J. Kalagias of Garfield, the Libertarian candidate in that race, said the duties of the lieutenant governor and other state offices such as land commissioner should be merged. The offices of auditor and treasurer should be merged too, he said.
Grimsley Grahm of Rogers, Democratic nominee for District 94 in Rogers, supported abolishing the post. His Republican opponent, Rebecca Petty of Rogers, didn't attend the forum.
Rep. Sue Scott, R-Rogers and District 95 incumbent, favored keeping the office if its duties could be expanded beyond its ceremonial role of presiding over the state Senate. Scott's Libertarian opponent, Eddie J. Moser of Bella Vista, didn't attend the forum.
NW News on 08/16/2014