<\/p>\n
Columnist Joe\u00a0Mathews, pictured in 2018, when he still wanted to be lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n
Santiago Mejia\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
My fellow Californians, I am no longer your best choice for lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n
The job has simply become too important \u2014 and frightening.<\/p>\n
In this perilous post-republic period<\/a> of political violence, the chances are simply too high that the next lieutenant governor elected this year will soon become governor. And that\u2019s a job no sane person should want.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how I lost interest in the lieutenant governorship, the only elected office I have ever coveted.<\/p>\n I first raised my hand for this not-so-distinguished post in 2009, in the Los Angeles Times<\/a>, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to appoint a replacement for the departing Lt. Gov. John Garamendi.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n I looked into the job requirements and found only three:<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Check if the governor is alive.<\/p>\n I\u2019d already been doing those things as a journalist covering Schwarzenegger<\/a>. So, there\u2019d be no need for on-the-job training. The lieutenant governor didn\u2019t run anything. Neither did I. It was kismet.<\/p>\n I could handle the light work associated with the office. There are rarely tied votes in the California Senate, but I could show up and break them as needed. Serving on a few governing boards, as lieutenant governors do, would be no problem, since, as a think tank fellow, it\u2019d be useful for me to attend those meetings anyway.<\/p>\n But it was my lack of political ambition that made me the best choice. No need to waste a real leader in a nothing job like lieutenant governor. Indeed, someone with real experience in government would just get frustrated by the role\u2019s limits, as Gavin Newsom admitted he was<\/a> when he served from 2011 to 2019.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Any governor would have loved having me, since some lieutenant governors frustrate governors by taking official actions when the governor is out of state and the lieutenant governor is in charge. I never would have pulled a Mike Curb<\/a>. I also wouldn\u2019t have besmirched my office by raising money for future campaigns \u2014 as lieutenant governors always do.<\/p>\n I just wanted to use the lieutenant governorship as a no-show job to support my writing. Journalism doesn\u2019t pay that much anymore, whereas the 2025 salary for lieutenant governor was $184,447!<\/p>\n Alas, Schwarzenegger gave the job to a now-forgotten politician named Abel Maldonado, who is perhaps best remembered for advancing the top-two election system that plagues California. I expressed my interest again<\/a> during Jerry Brown\u2019s governorship, but never got an interview. In the course of reporting, I did once ask\u00a0Newsom to consider me as lieutenant governor, but he seemed to think I was joking.<\/p>\n Newsom was wrong about that.<\/p>\n The lieutenant governor\u2019s job was a joke. But my interest in it was serious.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Now, tragically, the job isn\u2019t a joke. Donald Trump, our president-dictator, has repeatedly threatened Gov. Newsom with arrest<\/a> and removal from office. Our next governor is likely to be even more in danger. Trump is ramping up his use of the Justice Department to target political opponents. And the right and left are normalizing violence against politicians.<\/p>\n Only two California governors have died in office and forced the lieutenant governor to step in. The last time it happened was in 1934, when Frank Merriam took over<\/a> after James Rolph\u2019s heart failure. Five other governors have left office, all for political reasons \u2014 in four cases to take other jobs, most recently in 1953 when Gov. Earl Warren joined the Supreme Court and\u00a0became chief justice of\u00a0the United States<\/a>, handing the governorship to Goodwin Knight.<\/p>\n The odds of a forced resignation or worse are much higher now. No one with a sense of self-preservation would want to be governor right now. Which is why I can\u2019t stand for lieutenant governor anymore.<\/p>\n The good news is that Californians do have choices who are more appropriate for the job. There are 16 candidates on the ballot<\/a>, 11 are unknowns, from a nurse named Ebie Lynch to a doctor named Alice\u00a0Stek.<\/p>\n Five candidates have significant governing experience. Among these are current state Treasurer Fiona Ma, former Sausalito City Council Member Janelle Kellman\u00a0and Democrat-turned-Republican Gloria Romero, a former majority leader in the state Senate.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Two candidates whom I\u2019ve seen in action might be better governors than anyone running for the governorship. Josh Fryday, a former Novato mayor, has been a creative, nationally respected head of Newsom\u2019s service and community engagement office. Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs<\/a>, who wrote a brilliant memoir<\/a> and founded a major anti-poverty group, has more powerful allies than just about anyone in California politics.<\/p>\n Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.<\/p>\n