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Gov. Mike Parson makes a strong pick for lieutenant governor, but is it legal?

By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, left, appointed Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe to the office of lieutenant governor, despite some legal uncertainty about whether he has the authority to fill the position.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, left, appointed Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe to the office of lieutenant governor, despite some legal uncertainty about whether he has the authority to fill the position. Blake Nelson The Associated Press

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday made a commendable selection in state Sen. Mike Kehoe to be the state's lieutenant governor.

Kehoe, a Republican and the Senate majority leader, ranks as one of the most respected lawmakers in the state. He is even-keeled, experienced and strategic. In addition to serving nearly eight years in the Senate, he is a former chairman of the state Highway and Transportation Commission. He's had a successful career as an auto dealer.

The bigger issue, though, is whether Parson has the authority to name a lieutenant governor at all. We think there's little question that he does.

Unlike Kansas, Missouri elects its lieutenant governor separately from the governor. That fact has created some ambiguity over how to proceed in the wake of former Gov. Eric Greitens' resignation and Parson's ascension to the state's top job.

No less an authority than Mike Wolff, a former chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, points out that there is "no law" that authorizes the governor "to appoint, or the voters to elect, a person to serve as lieutenant governor to fill a vacancy in the office."

That opinion is energetically contradicted by two former gubernatorial general counsels, one a Republican, the other a Democrat. Joe Bednar, the chief lawyer for Govs. Mel Carnahan and Roger Wilson, and Lowell Pearson, the top lawyer to Gov. Matt Blunt, insist that the state constitution stipulates that "there shall be" a lieutenant governor and that the governor has broad powers to make such an appointment.

Writing in The Star this weekend, the two pointed out that precedent exists for filling the lieutenant governor's office in the event of a vacancy.

"Leaving the office vacant, and therefore leaving these duties unmet for more than two years, is unwise and unnecessary and in violation of the governor’s constitutional mandate to fill all vacancies not otherwise provided for by law," Bednar and Pearson wrote.

Missourians should be glad that Parson is striding forward. Thrust into the unusual position of having to complete the final 2 1/2 years of Greitens' term, Parson has made no secret of the fact that he wants a second-in-command to help with the duties of running a huge state.


"If there's ever a time those two offices need to be working together, it's now," Parson said after taking the oath of office.


Next year, the General Assembly should go about the business of clarifying the constitution. Meantime, Parson has made a wise choice, and he has a potent legal argument to justify his move. Bogging down Missouri with a lawsuit would be counterproductive and a waste of energy and tax dollars as Parson seeks to gain his footing in the state's most powerful job.




This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Gov. Mike Parson makes a strong pick for lieutenant governor, but is it legal?."

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