COLUMBUS - The road to the governor's mansion may sometimes run through the lieutenant governor's office, but it's definitely not an expressway.

For more than a century, no lieutenant governor in Ohio has been directly elected governor. Still, plenty of people want the $68,000-a-year job.

When current Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor decided to run for Ohio Supreme Court rather than a second four-year term, speculation abounded as to whom Gov. Bob Taft would pick as his re-election running mate. He selected Jennette Bradley, a Columbus city councilwoman who could become the state's first African-American lieutenant governor.

The man likely to be his Democratic opponent in November, former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan, had already selected Charleta Tavares, also a Columbus councilwoman and African American.

The job is a nebulous one, as strong or as weak as the governor wants it. Ms. O'Connor, a former judge and prosecutor, asked Mr. Taft for a dual role as director of the Department of Public Safety when they first discussed her joining his ticket in 1998.

“I was concerned about the limited duties attendant to this position,” she said. “It's an important position by virtue that, at an unforeseen time, the lieutenant governor would have to literally step in and take over for the governor, either on an interim or permanent basis. Otherwise, there are no statutory duties.”

Former roles of the lieutenant governor as head of the State and Local Government Commission and president of the Ohio Senate have been eliminated.

“The lieutenant governor makes what he or she can of it, but the only person who can really define that role is the governor,” said U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Ohio), who served as Gov. George Voinovich's lieutenant from 1991 to 1994. He used the job as a springboard to the U.S. Senate.

Although Mr. Voinovich gave him authority, broadly overseeing the criminal justice, Mr. DeWine said it was not a true partnership. “By definition that does not exist,” he said. “The Ohio Constitution says there's only one governor.”

The job of lieutenant governor did not exist until half a century after the founding of the state in 1803 and, until 1978, was elected separately from the governor, frequently creating situations where the two were political adversaries.

“One of the things that shows how unimportant people considered this job is that, until fairly recently, this was the only statewide office in which there was no need to fill a vacancy,” said Ohio State University professor and political analyst Herb Asher.

Mr. Voinovich, lieutenant governor when Gov. James Rhodes made his last comeback in 1979, was in office just a matter of months before he was elected mayor of Cleveland. The job remained vacant after he left.

The same occurred when the next lieutenant governor, Myrl H. Shoemaker, died in office halfway through Gov. Richard Celeste's first term. He was not replaced until the next election two years later.

Today, a governor may appoint a replacement with confirmation from the state House and Senate.

Ultimately, political ambition has served as the shortest bridge between the two offices.

Nancy Hollister, Mr. DeWine's replacement, became the only woman to serve as Ohio governor, for less than two weeks, when then Governor Voinovich made the leap to the U.S. Senate. Before her, the last lieutenant to directly ascend to governor was John Brown, a Republican, whose 11 days at the top caused a partisan uproar when Gov. Frank J. Lausche, a Democrat, left for the Senate in 1957.

Ms. Tavares, the 2002 Democratic candidate for the job, said she and Mr. Hagan talked about her role before she signed on. “It will be a partnership,” she said. “I would be his chief advisor and confidante. We will work on decisions together.”

Ms. Bradley said specifics about her role as Governor Taft's new lieutenant governor, including the possibility of a cabinet-level position, will have to wait until after the election.

First Published February 24, 2002, 2:41 p.m.