Monday, December 1, 2008

AP: The next Governor of Arizona will be a Republican...

Ugh.

Turns out, Arizona doesn't have a Lieutenant Governor. Period.

President-elect Barack Obama's announcement Monday that Gov. Janet Napolitano is his choice to head the Department of Homeland Security means a Republican will move into the governor's office.

Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, so the Democratic governor's midterm departure — if she is confirmed as secretary of homeland security — means she will be succeeded by Secretary of State Jan Brewer, a Republican in a state that leans toward the GOP.

"It is difficult to leave one job for another but one must go where one can best serve," Napolitano said during a news conference in Chicago with Obama and other newly announced members of his national security team.

The turnover won't occur before late January at the earliest because Napolitano said she doesn't plan to step down as governor until the U.S. Senate confirms her appointment.

A Senate vote can't happen until after Obama is inaugurated Jan. 20.

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