Pennsylvania lieutenant governor vote may need recount
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HARRISBURG -- For a post with no real political power or name recognition, the job of lieutenant governor has been causing a lot of headaches in recent years.
"We have experienced significant problems because of that office," said Tim Potts, leader of Democracy Rising PA, a citizens group based here. "Some people think we should just do away with it or have the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team in the primary."
"There's no doubt, if you look over past few years, that the amount of attention the lieutenant governor's post has received is disproportionate to the actual role the office plays in state government," agreed Christopher Borick, a political pollster at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
Twice, in 2001-02 and starting again in November 2008, a vacancy in the No. 2 office has forced the leader of the state Senate, called the president pro tem, to hold down two jobs, with one foot in the legislative branch and the other foot in the lieutenant governor's office, which is part of the executive branch.
And now it looks like an automatic recount -- which could cost the state more than $500,000 -- will be needed next week to decide the winner of Tuesday's Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
As of Thursday, state Rep. Scott Conklin of Centre County was clinging to a lead of less than one-half of 1 percent over former Philadelphia city Controller Jonathan Saidel for the Democratic nomination to the state's No. 2 job. The third candidate, Doris Ribner-Smith, wasn't close enough to be included in a recount.
With nearly 100 percent of all precincts counted, Mr. Conklin had 316,458 votes, or 35.3 percent, of the vote, according to results on the Pennsylvania Department of State's website. Mr. Saidel was close behind, with 312,639, or 34.9 percent.
If Mr. Conklin's winning margin stays at 0.5 percent or less, a recount by state election officials will be mandatory under a law passed in 2004, said Leslie Amoros, Department of State spokeswoman.
Elections officials in the 67 counties will verify their results and send them, by Tuesday, to the Department of State, which will then have until Thursday to decide if a recount is needed. If Mr. Conklin's margin of victory turns out to be more than 0.5 percent, Mr. Saidel would have the option of paying for a recount. A recount would have to be finished by June 8.
First Published May 21, 2010 12:00 am
