Rhode Island Lt. Gov Candidates: Abolish The Office We Seek
As citizens and local governments across the country continue to struggle financially, a number of politicians are campaigning on the promise of restoring fiscal austerity. Two lieutenant governor candidates in Rhode Island, however, are taking that promise to a new level: They're pledging to abolish the lieutenant governor's office if elected.
Robert Healey Jr., who describes himself as fiscally conservative, socially liberal and with a libertarian streak, is running for the office for the third time. (His political party, which he created, is called the Cool Moose Party.) His vow, if elected: No salary, no staff and ultimately, no office. He argues that the job is useless and a waste of taxpayer money -- an argument he expects to gain traction this year.
"Four years ago when I proposed savings Rhode Islanders $1 million a year just by getting elected, people would say, 'It's only a million dollars,'" Healey said in a news release, the Providence Journal reports. "Now, in these economic times, I hear 'It's a million dollars.'"
Healey's platform is apparently so convincing that the Republican lt. gov. candidate has also adopted it, the Associated Press reports.
"There are no duties," GOP candidate Heidi Rogers reportedly said of the job. "I did my research on that and found that really there are no duties with that office except to wait for the governor to become incapacitated or die."
Democratic incumbent Elizabeth Roberts, meanwhile, has argued that she has used the position to champion health care and encourage Rhode Island residents to buy goods from locally-owned businesses.
Roberts' opponent in the Democratic primary, Red Sox executive Jeremy Kapstein, said on a radio show recently that he could use the position to help the economy.
"The lieutenant governor has the power to go out as an independent constitutional office and has the budget to be this economic ambassador," he said. "And then, when the deal is brought in, to actually negotiate and help the [state Economic Development Corporation] so that it is a good deal for the taxpayers of the state."
Politifact.com, which partners with the Providence Journal to fact check Rhode Island politicians, concluded that Kapstein's statement is "half true."
"Apart from references to how and when the lieutenant governor is elected, there are few mentions of this job in the Constitution," Politifact said. "These days, however, the most significant constitutional duty assigned to the lieutenant governor is as the governor's understudy."
Kapstein campaign manager Joe Rodgers told Politifact that while those tasks are not explicitly the lieutenant governor's obligations, Kapstein believes an effective lieutenant governor would take them on anyway.
