Nov 26, 2017 3 min read

Prognosticators are already predicting a Democratic tsunami will happen at the polls in 2018, though the usual caveats about a year being a lifetime in politics more than apply.

There’s one Democratic candidate, however, who might end up being swept out to sea by his own party’s voters when they go to the polls in next spring’s primary: Lt. Gov. Mike Stack.

The beleaguered second-in-command for the commonwealth declared his intention to seek re-election, despite his tenure being more notable for its missteps than its accomplishments.

You’ll recall Stack and his wife, Tonya, generated headlines in the spring as a result of reports they were abusive to the household staff at the lieutenant governor’s three-story residence at Fort Indiantown Gap.

They also apparently behaved disrespectfully toward the state police guarding them. Despite apologies from the Stacks, with the lieutenant governor claiming stress and a bad temper, and his wife seeking mental-health treatment, Gov. Tom Wolf yanked the police protection and scaled back the staff at the Stacks’ abode.

“I do not delight in this decision, but I believe it is a necessary step to protect commonwealth employees,” Wolf wrote to Stack in a hand-delivered message last April.

Wolf himself would probably not be sorry to see Stack go. The two had no political relationship before 2014, and are said to rarely communicate. Unlike other states that allow gubernatorial candidates to select their own running-mates, Pennsylvania holds separate elections for the post, which often results in loveless arranged marriages.

Given that Stack is a former state senator, the grandson of a Philadelphia-area congressman, and the son of a Philly Democratic ward leader, he might have enough name recognition and goodwill on the eastern end of the state to squeak through after the votes are tallied next May 15.

However, it appears he will have formidable competition for an incumbent. A Westmoreland County resident and Iraq War veteran, Arayanna Berringer, and a commissioner from Chester County, Kathi Cozzone, already declared their candidacies.

Perhaps more intriguing – and more threatening to Stack’s prospects – is the candidacy of John Fetterman, the Braddock mayor known for his hulking, wrestler’s build, and a mostly unvarying ensemble of black, short-sleeved shirts and cargo shorts. Fetterman received national publicity for his efforts to revitalize Braddock, and traveled the state last year in his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Senate nomination that ultimately went to Katie McGinty.

Fetterman could prove to be the candidate to match what appears to be the state and country’s populist mood.

Whether or not Stack remains as lieutenant governor when 2019 dawns, the state should rethink how lieutenant governors are selected and what that person does when they are on the job. The only enumerated duties the lieutenant governor has in Pennsylvania are presiding over the state Senate, leading the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council and the pardons board. For the $160,000 the lieutenant governor earns every year – Pennsylvania has the highest-paid lieutenant governor in the country – they should be given more to do. And do they really need state-provided housing and a security detail? Stack could walk down the street in almost any community in Pennsylvania and go unrecognized.

And why not let the governor choose their own number two?

In fairness, Stack might not have many accomplishments to tout when he goes before voters next year. But, really, does any Pennsylvania lieutenant governor?