Does Washington state even need a lieutenant governor?

It’s not unusual for states to consider eliminating the post of lieutenant governor in an effort to save money on what some believe is a ceremonial and unnecessary office. That possibility is not on the ballot in Washington state but the two candidates for the office are not inspiring a great deal of confidence from outsiders.

KIRO Radio Voter’s Guide

After 20 years, and a bit of controversy, Brad Owen is on the way out of the post, and two new names are in a gridlock to be the fill-in for the state’s most powerful position. The candidates, Cyrus Habib and Marty McClendon have little combined political experience. It was the only position without an endorsement from The Seattle Times. Here was the rationale:

Republican Marty McClendon is a conservative pastor and talk-radio show host who has never been in the state Legislature and would have to begin his political education from scratch.

Sen. Cyrus Habib, D-Bellevue, has been a legislator for three years but campaigned in the primary in a disturbingly, highly partisan way, making promises he cannot keep. He suggested he would declare unconstitutional those laws he felt contradicted previous court rulings. He said he wouldn’t sign a Senate bill on education if he didn’t believe it fulfilled the Supreme Court’s McCleary rulings.

The Lt. Governor gets paid more than $100,000 per year and is one of three statewide elected positions that the state constitution says the Legislature can erase.

Owen sent a scathing open letter to Habib related to a comment Habib made that he wouldn’t sign a bill if he personally disagreed with. Habib defended his comments to KTTH’s Todd Herman last month.

KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson spoke with McClendon about the major controversy facing him: being the only statewide candidate who is still supporting Donald Trump as president. McClendon said he’s heard people say they won’t vote for him for that particular reason.

“It’s sad. Even though we may agree on every issue but that, that’s a deciding factor and that’s a sad thing,” McClendon said. “So I’ve seen some of that, but it’s a small percentage.”

As for Trump’s now infamous comments about assaulting women, McClendon said: “Very disappointed and upset but it came down to the fact that I made a commitment to support the nominee. Right now, I’m running as a Republican candidate. If, God willing, we win, then I’m representing the entire state and then you go that way as well. To me, it comes down to keeping my word and saying, alright, regardless of where we’re at here, I don’t condone this behavior or what he says, but this is our candidate and these are the issues I care about and I’m fighting about those issues for our state and the nation as well. I’m making a choice, basically.”

As for why voters should care about who wins the post, McClendon said there are multiple reasons. Lt. Governor has full power and authority over the state when the Governor is away. While, historically, that has been between 46-60 days, that number has been closer to 90 days annually during Owens’ term, according to McClendon, because the most recent governors, Christine Gregoire and Jay Inslee, have traveled more than others in the position.

A spokesperson with Inslee’s office disagreed with McClendon’s numbers saying Inslee has been out of state an average of 28.5 days annually, which is not only far below the claim of 90 days but also well below the “historically” lower numbers he cites. Inslee’s office listed the following as his out-of-state numbers.

2013: 32 days

2014: 22.5 days

2015: 37 days

2016: 22.5 days (as of Nov. 1)

Lt. Governor also presides over both sides of the senate, is chair of the economic development and foreign trade commissions, and breaks all the ties for votes.

“Most people think it’s more of a ceremonial position but it’s not,” McClendon said.

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