By law, the governor must call a special election to replace the departing lieutenant governor. That law should be changed. The fiscal session starting next month can do it, with eff ort.
Changing laws and going to special lengths to do so isn’t something I recommend lightly. It’s no easy thing to get a nonbudget matter before a budget session of the Legislature. That’s by design. This change is justifi ed.
We’ve just found out it really does matter who we put into this largely ceremonial oft ce. More important, the next election for lieutenant governor could decide which party picks two of the three members of each and every county’s election commission. Holding a special election rushes things and muddies the waters — badly. It would also clearly favor one party over the other.
Lt. Gov. Mark Darr leaves oftce Feb. 1. He resigned rather than be impeached after ethics violations. If the fiscal session doesn’t change things, Gov. Mike Beebe must set a special election within 150 days of Darr’s leaving. So we’re looking at casting ballots by the end of June.
State House or Senate members can’t run in a special election. There’s good reason for that. In crude terms, you don’t want to give lawmakers a motive to create vacancies. Then they could run in special elections and still run for re-election to the Legislature if they lose. A provision barring such a thing is in the state Constitution.
So, in a stroke, a special election would exclude two-thirds of the people running for this oft ce in the regular election and all the Republicans. Reps. Andy Mayberry of East End and Charlie Collins of Fayetteville have announced. Both are Republicans. The only announced Democrat, John Burkhalter, is free and clear. He’s been campaigning for months. If he wins, Burkhalter could run for re-election in the general election later this same year.
Voters who elect anyone on one ballot are very unlikely to turn around, say they made a mistake and vote for somebody else fi ve months later.
Burkhalter is a qualifi ed guy. I think he’s likely to win a fair contest. That’s no reason to give up on having a fair contest when we can have one, though.
Now, for the impact on local elections. Every county election commission has three members. Two must come from the “majority party.” Under state law, that’s the party holding at least four of the state’s seven constitutional oftces after the last general election.
So, the lieutenant governor is one-fourth of what either party needs in 2014 to run our elections. The race for treasurer is one the Democrats are bound to lose. The Democrat who held that oft ce resigned and faces trial for bribery. The GOP just lost the lieutenant governor but has incumbents for secretary of state and land commissioner. Everything else is in the air in 2014.
Let’s not forget the fi rst election after we settle the majority party issue is in 2016 — a presidential election year.
Bringing up this change in the law or any other any nonfiscal topic in the session will require a two-thirds vote in each chamber. Requiring that super-majority was intended to discourage such attempts. So I know what’s involved here. The two-thirds line is not a threshold to cross without thinking about it even if you have the votes. After all, doing anything makes it easier to do again. So concerns about setting a precedent and diverting attention from budget matters are valid.
I’ve also just argued the oftce of “lite guv” oft ce matters. That begs the question: Then why leave it vacant? Because Senate President Pro Tempore, Mike Lamoureux, R-Russellville, is filling the role until the real election settles the majority party issue. He’s next in line to become governor if something happens to Beebe. That’s nothing to fear.
Nothing is likely to happen to Beebe. If something does, Lamoureux is more than qualifi ed. The senator would already be getting serious looks as a governor’s prospect if he only lived in one of the state’s two population centers, Northwest or central Arkansas. I said so in a column months ago, long before Darr’s need to leave became apparent.
Oh, we’d also save at least $1.3 million by changing the law. That’s the bare minimum of what a special election would cost.
Let’s not let one man’s ethical lapses turn the election of a state constitutional oftcer into a biased partisan rush job with serious, lasting consequences. Avoiding that will require some eff ort and risk. Most worthwhile things do.
DOUG THOMPSON IS A
POLITICAL REPORTER AND
COLUMNIST FOR NWA MEDIA.