“Under Christie, first lt. governor quietly blazes trail” |
| Under Christie, first lt. governor quietly blazes trail Posted: 18 Sep 2010 07:10 PM PDT TRENTON — New Jersey this year joined 42 states that have lieutenant governors. There is no job description that specifies Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno should stay mostly silent as her boss slugs it out with union leaders, sends a Cabinet member into exile, or makes the opposition party cry uncle in budget fights. But that approach is part of a style that has won admirers, who contend they prefer Guadagno stay outside the fray and put energy into the heavy lifting assigned to her by Gov. Chris Christie. Guadagno is in charge of fostering job growth and fueling business development. Guadagno is likely to gain spotlight time in the coming weeks, however. Christie is heading out on a barnstorming tour of other states in support of campaigns by fellow Republicans. The lieutenant governor serves as acting governor when the governor is out of state or unable to serve. The person becomes governor if the office is vacated. Guadagno had center stage during state budget hearings when she was caught in a dustup with state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, who pressed Guadagno unsuccessfully to answer questions about the overall state budget. The skirmish didn't linger. "Lt. Governor Guadagno has proven to be every bit the professional in the Senate majority's dealings with her," said Senate Democratic spokesman Derek Roseman. "She brings a very personable and accessible touch to the position." Similar fight-truce sequences played out for Guadagno in her home county of Monmouth, where she survived a bruising election marked by negative campaigning to defeat a veteran local police chief in the 2007 sheriff's race. That made Guadagno the state's third female county sheriff. When Christie tabbed Guadagno as his running mate last July, Guadagno quickly was challenged by Monmouth Democratic freeholders on her campaign claim to have successfully handled tough negotiations with public-employee unions. They said Guadagno had instead obstructed efforts to freeze county government salaries and pandered to unions within the Sheriff's Office. (2 of 2) But Guadagno's reputation remained intact. She also quelled outcries from advocacy groups over bringing a controversial illegal immigrant check program to Monmouth County. Guadagno promised critics that the screening for illegal immigrants, charged with crimes, would take place only at the county jail and not in the neighborhoods. She kept her promise. A Monmouth Republican freeholder, Lillian Burry, said Guadagno navigated the county's political landscape "expertly." "Style and grace. Kim Guadagno has those characteristics in abundance, and that's something unfortunately becoming a bit uncommon. It's carried her through," Burry said. "She's a strong leader and a person of strong conviction, and she's not easy swayed from the ideals she truly believes in. As our first lieutenant governor, she certainly stepped up to the plate and filled that role beautifully." Policy analyst Ingrid Reed said Guadagno is living up to what voters wanted when the lieutenant governor position was created in a 2005 statewide referendum. "The way lieutenant governor is defined and implemented is different in different states. In New Jersey, people wanted to have a lieutenant governor that was there to run the government in case of a void or absence and was useful in some other ways, but not to have a new bureaucracy created," said Reed, a visiting associate at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Guadagno is also serving as secretary of state at a salary of $141,000, with no additional salary as lieutenant governor. "I think the dual roles have worked out," Reed said. "New Jersey has done very well in avoiding extra bureaucracy costs." In eight months on the job, Guadagno has attended dozens of ribbon-cutting events and receptions, often delivering prepared remarks but being kept off-limits to the media. Administration officials did not respond to requests to interview Guadagno for this story. Guadagno has rarely weighed in on Christie's policy statements. At joint news conferences, Guadagno stands near the governor's right shoulder but doesn't get equal time nor should there be such expectations of a lieutenant governor, Reed said. "She's very visible and apparently has other responsibilities, which people want her to have," Reed said. "There's still a question over how much of a separate voice from the governor should this position have. Can she be a separate voice strictly in the secretary of state role?" The new position was created without any specific duties, with each governor to decide the lieutenant's role. If something were to happen to the governor or the governor were to resign, the lieutenant governor would step in. In 2004, Senate President Richard J. Codey took over for 15 months after Gov. James E. McGreevey resigned, announcing he was gay and that he had an extramarital affair with a male staffer. Codey took over as governor again for about a month in 2007 when Gov. Jon S. Corzine was seriously injured in a car accident he narrowly survived. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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