Governor Tom Vilsack defends his Lieutenant Governor from charges that she isn’t doing enough. Republican candidate for Governor Doug Gross says he’ll pick a Lieutenant Governor/running mate who will able to run a state agency, as Gross says in a time of tight budgets, the state can’t afford a “co-governor” in the job. Vilsack says his Lieutenant Governor, Sally Pederson, is a valuable part of his Administration.Vilsack says a lot of people don’t fully appreciate or understand the job of Lieutenant Governor. He says Pederson’s job is “meaningful and important.”Vilsack says Pederson headed up an effort in 1999 to expand the state’s workforce and is leading the project to re-tool state services for the mentally ill and disabled. He says there’s no question Pederson has been active in all decisions and has a tremendous amount of responsibility.Vilsack says there are flaws in Gross’ idea to have the Lieutenant Governor head a state agency. The Iowa Senate must confirm each department head, and Vilsack says it would be wrong to force a Lieutenant Governor to endure the kind of rancorous vote dealing that’s occurred in the past. Vilsack made his comments on Iowa Public Television. Vilsack formally accepts the Democratic party’s gubernatorial nomination mid-day today in a speech at the Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention.
