When the governor and lieutenant governor are both away, the secretary of state is acting governor — "and commander in chief," as Secretary of State Mary Herrera noted last year in a news release when she was subbing.

Lawmakers are considering a measure, however, that would bump the secretary of state to the back of the line of succession.

Instead, the speaker of the state House of Representatives would step in when the governor and lieutenant governor were unable for whatever reason to carry out their duties.

Herrera is "vehemently opposed" to the change, according to her spokesman, James Flores.

"It's just taking something away from her that she had when she was voted in," Flores said Friday.

The change — which is under discussion by the House Voters and Elections Committee — is a constitutional amendment, which would require approval from voters statewide if it got through the Legislature.

The proposed lineup: governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, president pro tem of the Senate, secretary of state.

The measure's sponsor, House Judiciary Chairman Al Park, D-Albuquerque, said New Mexico should follow the federal model, in which the speaker of the U.S. House is third in line to succeed the president.

The speaker is elected by the "people's assembly" and is well-versed in the everyday issues that affect New Mexicans, Park said.

Daniel Ivey-Soto, who works for Herrera as the director of the state's elections bureau, said there are key differences between the federal and the state systems.

The federal setup is geared toward permanent succession, he argued: The president doesn't stop being president when he's out of the country. In New Mexico, the succession provision is used largely for temporary situations, when the governor and the lieutenant governor are both out of state.

And in the federal system, no officials below vice president are elected by all the people, Ivey-Soto argued. In New Mexico, the secretary of state is elected statewide.

Ivey-Soto also said it could be disruptive for the state House speaker to assume the governor's duties in the middle of a legislative session.

Park said the bill may be rewritten to account for that problem.

Lawmakers may combine the proposal with yet another succession fix: filling a vacancy in the lieutenant governor's position.

Currently, there's no way in law to do that. If Gov. Bill Richardson — who recently ended his presidential campaign — were to head for Washington in a new Democratic administration, for example, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish would become governor, but the lieutenant governor's spot would stay empty.

The House committee might consider having the governor appoint a lieutenant governor, subject to confirmation by both houses of the Legislature. A similar proposal is pending in the Senate.

Denish said she supports putting the measure on the ballot for voters to decide. "We should be prepared for the eventuality of a vacancy, no matter what the circumstances. ... I think it's important to fill the vacancy if there is one," she said.




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