The
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland is the second highest ranking official in the executive branch of the
state governmentThe Government of Maryland is conducted according to the Maryland Constitution. The United States is a federation; consequently, the Government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by...
of
MarylandMaryland is a state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east. It is comparable in size to the European country of Belgium. According to the U.S...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He or she is elected on the same ticket as the
Governor of MarylandThe Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Maryland and is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The Governor is the highest ranking official in the state, and has a broad range of appointive powers in state and local government, as...
and must meet the same qualifications.
The current Lieutenant Governor is
Anthony G. BrownAnthony G. Brown is a Democratic Party politician from the State of Maryland. He was elected as Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor in 2006 on a ticket with Governor Martin O’Malley...
.
History
The position was first created by the
Maryland Constitution of 1864The Maryland Constitution of 1864 was the third of the four constitutions which have governed the U.S. state of Maryland. A controversial product of the Civil War and in effect only until 1867, when the state's present constitution was adopted, the 1864 document was short-lived.-Drafting:The 1864...
. Under that system of government, the Lt. Governor served as
president of the SenateThe President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate, and is equivalent to the speaker of other assemblies.The Senate President is often a very high-ranking figure in the order of presidential succession: for example, the President of the Senate of Nigeria is...
and would assume the office of governor if the incumbent should die, resign, be removed, or be disqualified.
The state's present constitution, adopted in 1867, abolished the Lt. Governorship. However, the position was re-established by a Constitutional amendment ratified on November 4, 1970.
Duties and responsibilities
Under the 1970 amendment, the Lieutenant Governor "shall have only the duties delegated to him by the Governor." Maryland's Lieutenant Governorship is thus weaker than the office in most other states which have one. For instance, in many states, including
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
, the Lieutenant Governor is the President of the State's Senate and in
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
the Lieutenant Governor assumes
all of the Governor's powers when he or she is out of the state. In both of those states, as in some others, the Lieutenant Governor is elected in his or her own right, independently of the state's Governor.
In practice, Maryland's Lieutenant Governor attends cabinet meetings, chairs various task forces and commissions, represents the state at ceremonial functions and at events which the Governor cannot attend, and advises the Governor. If there is a vacancy in the office of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor becomes the Governor. A vacancy in the Lieutenant Governorship is filled by a person nominated by the Governor and confirmed by a majority vote of the General Assembly voting in joint session.
Lt. Governors under the Maryland Constitution of 1864
| # | Name | Party | Term |
|---|
| 1 |
Christopher C. Cox Christopher C. Cox was a United States politician from Maryland.Born in Baltimore, Cox was a member of the National Union Party, a coalition of the Democrat loyal to the Union and Republicans during the Civil War....
|
Unionist During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three states which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11 states that tried to form the Confederacy...
|
1865–1868 |
Lt. Governors under the Maryland Constitution of 1867
Constitution amended November 4, 1970 to create Lt. Governor position.
| # | Name | Party | Term |
|---|
| 2 |
Blair Lee IIIBlair Lee, III was an American Democratic politician. He served as the Secretary of State of Maryland from 1969 to 1971, and was the acting Governor of Maryland from 1977 to 1979, in place of Marvin Mandel....
|
Democrat The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
|
1971–1979 |
| 3 |
Samuel W. Bogley |
Democrat |
1979–1982 |
| 4 |
J. Joseph Curran, Jr. |
Democrat |
1983–1987 |
| 5 |
Melvin A. Steinberg |
Democrat |
1987–1995 |
| 6 |
Kathleen Kennedy TownsendKathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, was lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. She ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Maryland in 2002. The eldest of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel's 11 children, and the eldest grandchild of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald...
|
Democrat |
1995–2003 |
| 7 |
Michael S. Steele Michael Stephen Steele is an American political figure, currently serving as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is the first African American to chair the Republican National Committee and the second to chair either major U.S. party's National Committee after Ron Brown, who...
|
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
|
2003–2007 |
| 8 |
Anthony G. BrownAnthony G. Brown is a Democratic Party politician from the State of Maryland. He was elected as Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor in 2006 on a ticket with Governor Martin O’Malley...
|
Democrat |
2007– |
See also
- Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Maryland and is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The Governor is the highest ranking official in the state, and has a broad range of appointive powers in state and local government, as...
- Government of Maryland
The Government of Maryland is conducted according to the Maryland Constitution. The United States is a federation; consequently, the Government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by...
- Lieutenant Governor (United States)