State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

When Lieutenant Governors Leave, Some States Struggle to Fill the Position

Governing: Sometimes you don’t want to give up your day job, even if you’ve been offered the second highest-ranking post in state government. Two states have had a difficult time filling vacancies for lieutenant governor this year.

In January, Shan Tsutsui, the lieutenant governor of Hawaii, left office to take a job with a communications firm. The post is supposed to be filled by the state Senate president, which is what Tsutsui was when he first got the job. But the current Senate president took a pass, as did the state House speaker. It was ultimately filled by Doug Chin. He resigned as state attorney general, while making it clear he would continue working at his real day job -- running for Congress.

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