Springfield, IL —The IL State Senate passed legislation today, offered by State Sen. Kwame Raoul, which seeks to pair lt. governor and governor candidates beginning before their party’s primary election.

Senate Bill 377 would require candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor to campaign jointly beginning with the state’s nominating petition process. Running-mates would circulate petitions as a ticket and be voted on together in the state’s primary.

“During previous primary cycles, lt. governor candidates in both parties chose not to endorse a candidate for governor due to weariness of political repercussions. Under this law candidates would have to be honest about not only who they think can win but who they’d like to serve with,” Raoul said.

Under the current system, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in the primary and then run as a ticket in the general election.

“Hypothetically, candidates for lt. governor and governor can have substantial differences in their policy views and how they would help the citizens of this state,” Raoul said. “Gubernatorial candidates shouldn’t be forced to run with a candidate they strongly disagree with.”

Currently, the only constitutional responsibility assigned to the Office of Lt. Governor is to execute duties assigned by the Governor.

Raoul is also the Senate sponsor of House Bill 5820 which has passed the House of Representatives and contains identical language to Senate Bill 377.