Thursday, 4:30 PM
Despite election loss, Healey acts as governor with Romney away
(David L Ryan / Globe Staff)
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey is pictured above on Nov. 14 while Governor Mitt Romney was at political events in Wisconsin and Nebraska.
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey handily lost the race for governor, but that hasn't stopped her from acting like one for at least part of 20 days in the month since Election Day.
Governor Mitt Romney's presidential ambitions have taken him to 10 states and two Asian countries since then, leaving Healey in charge, according to both their public schedules.
Romney's latest trip -- California for a family Thanksgiving, the Republican Governor's Association conference in Miami, and on to Japan, South Korea and China -- will leave Healey as acting governor for 17 days from Nov. 23 to Dec. 9. Romney, who has yet to formally announce he is running for president, will leave office on Jan. 4 when Democrat Deval L. Patrick is sworn in.
Since the election, Healey has amended bills, sworn in five judges, and presided over three meetings of the Governor's Council. Yesterday afternoon, she had three gubernatorial appearances, which included swearing in associate justices for the Worcester County Juvenile Court and the Ayer District Court.
Pamela H. Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a government watchdog group, pointed out that as the "duly elected lieutenant governor,” filling in when Romney is out of town is "part of her job description."
"I think what the people of Massachusetts really want is to have a governor who is actually here governing," Wilmot said. "Unfortunately, it's not unusual for this state. There's has been a long line of governors running for other offices."
A spokesman for the governor's office said that Romney is in regular communication with the office, and that the administration has continued moving forward with its post-election agenda, which includes removing tolls on the western Massachusetts Turnpike and keeping spending in check.
There is no formal temporary transfer or a ceremonial passing of a baton when Romney heads out of town. Many of Healey duties have been ceremonial and the December after an election is a typically quiet for state government.
"Certainly the wheels of government continue to turn," Wilmot said. "But I think it's the proactive agenda that really suffers when a governor has moved on."
