Succession Plan For Comptroller’s Office Still Unclear

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network

Will the selection of a new Illinois comptroller pose a constitutional crisis? Judy Baar Topinka won a second term last month and was to be sworn in Jan. 12. But she died Tuesday morning.

The Illinois Constitution says the governor must appoint someone until a successor is elected and qualified. Whether that means Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner can appoint someone for the same four year term he will serve, or that incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn can appoint someone until after the 2018 election, or something else, is not clear to everyone.

“The General Assembly could pass, and the governor could sign, legislation to hold a special election to fill the office either in the municipal election in the spring,” said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield, “or the general election in 2016.”

Former Gov. Jim Edgar is not sure of the answer, but does know the question. “Is that person a temporary position untilJanuary 12, or is it until the next election four years later?” he asks.

To recap, incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn is a Democrat. Gov.-elect Rauner is a Republican, as was Topinka.