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Southern Illinois Mayor Wants To Be Lt. Governor
One of the candidates for lieutenant governor says he should be elected because he's from Southern Illinois.

Brad Cole, the mayor of Carbondale, announced this week that he will seek the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. He says he has many attributes, but among them is where he lives, and the fact that few state office holders have come from there.

"If you say Southern Illinois south of Springfield, you're talking about Jim Edgar (from Charleston), who was appointed to the secretary of state role and ran for governor," Cole said. "Prior to that, Paul Powell from Vienna. We're going back 40 years on that, and 20 years for Jim Edgar."

Glenn Poshard, a Democratic congressman from Marion, ran for governor in 1998 and lost. Cole was part of the administration of the man who won that election, George H. Ryan, serving as deputy chief of staff and directing Ryan's Downstate office.

The position of lieutenant governor has been vacant since the last lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, became governor in January. The only constitutional duty of the lieutenant governor is to wake up alive each morning, but he can use his office to bring attention to important issues, as Quinn did with veterans' affairs.

Candidates for lieutenant governor run on their own in the primary to gain their party's nomination. Then, they run together in the general election with their party's candidate for governor.

(Illinois Radio Network)
07 17 09 by Newsroom
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