House Speaker Michael Madigan has already filed a constitutional amendment that would abolish the office in 2015, but Rep. Jack Franks has an idea on how to eliminate the lieutenant governor's position more quickly. He says the Democratic State Central Committee should not choose a replacement for Scott Lee Cohen, instead forcing Gov. Pat Quinn to run alone this cycle. "By allowing Quinn to handpick his running mate, Franks told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "we are taking away the power of the voters."

Quinn favors a proposal to place governor and lieutenant governor candidates on the same ticket in the primary.