Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

The Lieutenant Governor of Maryland is the second highest-ranking official in the executive branch of the state government of Maryland in the United States. The officeholder is elected on the same ticket as the Governor of Maryland and must meet the same qualifications.

Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
Coat of arms of the state of Maryland
Incumbent Boyd Rutherford since January 21, 2015
Style	Lieutenant Governor (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Term length	Four years, renewable once, but renewable again after a 4-year respite
Inaugural holder	Blair Lee III
Formation	January 1971
Website	Office of the Lieutenant Governor

The current Lieutenant Governor is Boyd Rutherford.

History

The position was first created by the Maryland Constitution of 1864. Under that system of government, the lieutenant governor served as president of the Senate and would assume the office of governor if the incumbent should die, resign, be removed, or be disqualified.

The state's present constitution, adopted in 1867, abolished the lieutenant governorship. However, the position was re-established by a constitutional amendment ratified on November 3, 1970.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the 1970 amendment, the Lieutenant Governor "shall have only the duties delegated to him by the Governor." Maryland's lieutenant governorship is thus weaker than the office in several, but not all, other states that have one. For instance, in many states, including Texas, the lieutenant governor is the president of the state's Senate and in California the Lieutenant Governor assumes all of the Governor's powers when he or she is out of the state. In both of those states, as in some others, the lieutenant governor is elected in his or her own right, independently of the state's governor.

In practice, Maryland's lieutenant governor attends cabinet meetings, chairs various task forces and commissions, represents the state at ceremonial functions and at events with or without the governor, and advises the governor. If the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office (via impeachment), the lieutenant governor becomes governor. A vacancy in the lieutenant governorship is filled by a person nominated by the governor and confirmed by a majority vote of the General Assembly voting in joint session.

List of lieutenant governors

Parties

  Unionist (1)   Democratic (6)   Republican (2)

Lieutenant Governors under the Maryland Constitution of 1864

#	Portrait	Lieutenant Governor	Party	Term
1		Christopher C. Cox	Unionist	1865–1868

Lieutenant Governors under the Maryland Constitution of 1867

Constitution amended November 4, 1970 to create the office of Lieutenant Governor.

#	Portrait	Lieutenant Governor	Party	Term start	Term end	Governor
2		Blair Lee III	Democrat	January 20, 1971	January 17, 1979	Marvin Mandel
3		Samuel W. Bogley	Democrat	January 17, 1979	January 19, 1983	Harry Hughes
4		J. Joseph Curran, Jr.	Democrat	January 19, 1983	January 21, 1987
5		Melvin A. Steinberg	Democrat	January 21, 1987	January 18, 1995	William D. Schaefer
6		Kathleen Kennedy Townsend	Democrat	January 18, 1995	January 15, 2003	Parris Glendening
7		Michael Steele	Republican	January 15, 2003	January 17, 2007	Bob Ehrlich
8		Anthony G. Brown	Democrat	January 17, 2007	January 21, 2015	Martin O'Malley
9		Boyd Rutherford	Republican	January 21, 2015	Incumbent	Larry Hogan

Living former Lieutenant Governors of Maryland

As of January 2019, there are six former lieutenant governors of Maryland who are currently living at this time, the oldest lieutenant governor of Maryland being J. Joseph Curran, Jr. (served 1983–1987, born 1931). The most recent death of a former lieutenant governor of Maryland was that of Blair Lee III (served 1971–1979, born 1916), on October 25, 1985.

Lieutenant Governor	Term	Date of birth (age)
Samuel W. Bogley	1979–1983	November 16, 1941
J. Joseph Curran Jr.	1983–1987	July 7, 1931
Melvin A. Steinberg	1987–1995	October 4, 1933
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend	1995–2003	July 4, 1951
Michael S. Steele	2003–2007	October 24, 1958
Anthony G. Brown	2007–2015	November 21, 1961

See also

• Governor of Maryland
• Government of Maryland
• Lieutenant Governor (United States)

References

• Maryland State Archives. (October 20, 2017). Maryland Manual On-Line: A Guide to Maryland Government. "Lieutenant Governor". Retrieved August 15, 2020.