Lt. Governor of Illinois

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton

The woman you see above is Lt. Governor of Illinois Juliana Stratton. She was formerly a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing Chicago's near south side when she had been tapped by then gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker as his running mate in the 2018 Democrat primary. Well she with Pritzker are at the top of state gov't in Illinois. She's the first Black woman to become Lt. Governor.

This great post provided by the Illinois state house caucus blog gives us a historic run down of this office. The Lt. Governor succeeds the governor in office upon death, resignation or impeachment. The most recent time this has occurred is with former Gov. Pat Quinn who succeeded to the office of Governor upon the impeachment and removal of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Before the 1970 state constitution was written the Lt. Governor like the Vice President of the United States would also preside over the upper house of the legislature. So per the federal constitution the Vice President is the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, and before 1970 the Lt. Governor presides over the Illinois Senate.

Since the 1970 constitution was enacted a Senate President is elected amongst the membership of the Illinois Senate to be presiding officer in the state's upper legislative house. So what does that leave the Lt. Governor to do? Well it's listed on the Lt. Gov's state webpage:

In this role, her portfolio includes leading the Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative, and chairing the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, the Military Economic Development Council and the Illinois River Coordinating Council. Lieutenant Governor Stratton currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Lieutenant Governors Association as the Treasurer.

Basically aside from that portfolio you can make of this office what you will if you get elected. Stratton is one of 48 people to have been elected Lt. Governor. Most recently the first woman to hold the office of Lt. Governor - Corinne Wood - has passed away.

If you want to see what Lt. Gov. Stratton is doing feel free to follow her on Twitter or IG