“Some of you may think the office of Lt. Governor is not important.”
In Texas, the Lt. Guv has more real power than the Guv.
In Illinois, the Lt. Gov has less real power than the Chairman of the State Fair Advisory Board.
The Lt. Gov. was post was stripped of all remaining constitutional authority in the new 1970 constitution and now he can't even preside over the state senate in a ceremonial role, let alone cast a tie-breaking vote like a Vice President does. The SOLE authority delegated to him under the constitution is that he becomes Governor if the incumbent Governor dies, resigns, is impeached & removed (ala Blago), etc.
The Lt. Gov post has been granted some window dressing my statute of the state legislature (chairing the Illinois River Preservation Board, etc.), but those can be taken away at any time and often they're customized to fit the current office holder. For example, Lt. Gov. Corrine Wood was put in charge of promoting woman's breast cancer awareness in Illinois or something silly like that.
Now I don't agree with abolishing the Lt. Governor post ... New Jersey's fisacos where they had three "Acting Governors" in a week is proof why you need someone in place ready to take over immediately in a crisis. But Illinois really needs to reform the Lt. Governor post to justify it being a separate, statewide elected post with a huge salary and staff. One of our Lt. Governors' in recent years was so bored with the job he resigned to accept a radio talk show slot.
That's why I feel it's important to elect a Lt. Governor with the drive to do something with the job and push to make the position into a worthy office.