California Lieutenant Governor

In the toughest television commercial to appear in California this year on the volatile issue of abortion, Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy will begin airing an ad today implying that his Republican opponent wants to jail women who terminate their pregnancies. In fact, state Sen. Marian Bergeson of Newport Beach has said she would like to outlaw most abortions. But Bergeson has made clear that she favors punishing doctors who perform abortions, not the women who obtain them.

Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy and challenger Marian Bergeson, in their final scheduled meeting before the Nov. 6 election, clashed Tuesday over abortion, the environment and McCarthy's attendance at meetings of state boards and commissions.

State Sen. Marian Bergeson is the prim and proper product of a newly rich Newport Beach neighborhood. Her manner, typically, is modest and polite. She tends to deflect tough questions with a disarming smile and a short, fleeting answer. At first glance, she seems like one to shrink from confrontation. But listen to what she has been saying about her opponent in the race for lieutenant governor, incumbent Leo T. McCarthy: He's a flip-flopper, a job-hopper, a coddler of the common crook.

Campaigning at an elementary school bearing her name, state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) called Friday for better college training for teachers. Bergeson, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, also alleged that her Democratic opponent, incumbent Leo McCarthy, failed to attend many meetings when serving as a regent of the University of California and as a trustee of the California State University system.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has established an exploratory campaign committee for a possible run for California lieutenant governor in 2010. Hahn has served on the council since 2001, representing a district that stretches from San Pedro to Watts, and has one of L.A.'s most recognizable political names. She is the daughter of the late Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and the sister of former Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn. Hahn filed papers with the California secretary of state for "The Janice Hahn Lieutenant Governor 2010 Exploratory Committee."

The post of California lieutenant governor is a bit like the human appendix: It serves no necessary function and at times it can be a real pain. This is because the top two officials are independently elected and the rule in recent years has been to have a governor of one party and a lieutenant governor of the other. Lieutenant governors have at times caused mischief when a governor of the opposing party traveled out of state, leaving the No. 2 official as acting governor.

Tom McClintock tells an old joke that California's lieutenant governor pretty much has the day free after determining that the governor is still breathing. But that doesn't mean that McClintock wouldn't love the job. The Republican state senator from Thousand Oaks is running for lieutenant governor against John Garamendi, the Democratic state insurance commissioner. The contest gives voters a clear choice between two men with similarly long careers in Sacramento but sharply different priorities.

One former holder of the job described his duties this way: Wake up, get the paper, check to see if the governor is dead. If he's not, go back to bed. That was intended as a joke, of course, but like the best humor, it's painfully near the truth. As long as the governor lives, this state's official second-in-command--the lieutenant governor--must grope for minuscule morsels of power.

Three of the most active consumer advocates in elective office in California are fighting over one of the least powerful statewide jobs: lieutenant governor. Though it carries no substantial powers, the office holds strong appeal because its occupant is next in line to run the largest state in the union.

One candidate zoomed through his entire political career in just five years, rocketing from behind-the-scenes legislative aide to Assembly speaker. The other lost so many local elections he swore off politics for good--before changing his mind and entering the Legislature a dozen years ago. Both were motivated to run for higher office by term limits, both say it might be their political career capper, and both have something larger to prove by becoming California's lieutenant governor.