When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, the new constitution created six positions to be elected statewide: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and the superintendent of public instruction. As time passed, the duties and responsibilities of these offices have evolved and, in some cases, eroded. Some question whether or not all these offices need to be elected.
“Elect me, and I’ll eliminate my job.”
It’s an unusual campaign slogan but one that has been gaining popularity among partisan candidates for several statewide offices in Wisconsin, most notably state treasurer.
Since statehood, Wisconsin has had six constitutional officers, all elected on statewide ballots. That is hardly surprising since the 1848 constitutional convention was dominated by Jacksonian Democrats who believed in limiting government by empowering people to elect a wide variety of public officials to short terms.
Allowing voters to choose a number of constitutional officers here and in other states that joined the Union in the 1800s stands in sharp contrast to the federal approach of the late 1700s. Framers of the U.S. Constitution gave the president authority to appoint judges and senior executive branch officials, such as the attorney general, secretary of state, and other cabinet positions.
The irony is that, while Wisconsin’s governor and attorney general have gained authority in recent decades, the legislature has chipped away at the power of the other four constitutional officers—lieutenant governor, treasurer, and secretaries of state and public instruction—shifting duties and responsibilities from elected officials to unelected state agency personnel. In some cases, duties performed by the officers at the time of statehood have been, with improved technology, rendered obsolete.
With many, including current and past office holders, arguing to
eliminate some of these offices, a closer look at the development—and erosion—of elected statewide offices in Wisconsin is timely.