and South Bend City Council President Roland Kelly in the interviewing of prospective successors. By law, his successor was appointed by the city's 120 Democratic Party precinct committeemen and committeewoman, and it was required that a successor be appointed within thirty days of Kernan leaving office as mayor. It was anticipated that Kernan's endorsement would be heeded by them. Kernan ultimately endorsed Steve Luecke to be his successor, and Luecke was thereafter voted unanimously to serve the rest of Kernan's term. Other candidates that had been reportedly considered included St. Joseph County Prosecutor Mike Barnes, Portage Township Assessor John Voorde, St. Joseph County Auditor Joe Nagy, City Councilor Sean Coleman, City Councilor John Hosinski, Carter Wolf, and City Controller Kevin Horton. Lieutenant governorship From January 1997, until assuming the governorship in September 2003, Kernan served as lieutenant governor of Indiana. As lieutenant governor, Kernan built a reputation as a skilled orator. Kernan was regarded to be a popular lieutenant governor. First term Kernan was sworn-in as lieutenant governor by his own father. As lieutenant governor, Kernan served as the President of the Indiana Senate, the Director of the Indiana Department of Commerce, and as the Commissioner of Agriculture. In 1998, Kernan headed the Insurance Industry Working Group, a group aiming to boost the economic fortunes of the state's insurance industry. The group succeeded in getting a reduction to the insurance premium tax rate, securing the passage of a new demutualization law, and getting Ivy Tech to create a new associate degree focusing on the insurance industry. In 1998, Kernan was involved in the formation of the Pork Crisis Working Group, which later became Agricultural Crisis Working Group. Kernan chaired this group. In 1998, Kernan was made chair of the new Hoosier Farmland Preservation Task Force. It presented recommendations for farmland preservation and additional land use issues to O'Bannon and members of the Indiana General Assembly, and Laos provided information and advice to communities dealing with problems regarding these issues. During Kernan's tenure at the head of Indiana's Department of Commerce, the state recorded what were the second-highest export numbers in its history in the second quarter of 1998. In 1999, Kernan launched the Veterans Outreach Initiative, which was an effort to urge veterans to capitalize upon state and federal benefits available to them. Kernan was the chairman of the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which was formed in