as a candidate for reelection after a sex scandal. Allen's predecessor, Ohio State Treasurer Joseph T. Deters, agreed to run as a write in candidate for his old job as scandal clouded Deters's prospects–two of his aides had been indicted. When Deters was elected, he resigned as treasurer and Governor Bob Taft then appointed Lieutenant Governor Jennette B. Bradley to Deters's post. Taft announced he would appoint Johnson to Bradley's former post on December 21, 2004, and that Johnson would continue to serve as head of the Department of Development. (Johnson announced he would not take the lieutenant governor's salary, which was about half the Development director's pay of $125,000 per annum.) The Akron Beacon-Journal declared "the lieutenant governor's role in Columbus is typically about as exciting as drywall," as the lieutenant governor's job carries no duties except what the Governor assigns, the chief function of the office now being to provide a successor to the Governor. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a Republican paper, editorialized "Johnson and Bradley seem to be good choices for these jobs. However, the way they got the posts points out again that Ohio is clearly dominated by one political party, a situation we do not think is healthy for the state, no matter which party is in control." When Johnson's name came before the Republican controlled General Assembly on January 4, 2005, the day after Bradley's resignation, it was the first time a governor had appointed a new lieutenant governor and consequently the legislature had no experience with such a nomination. The nomination was swiftly approved over the objections of the Democratic minority, who protested there was not sufficient opportunity to debate the question. Senator Eric Fingerhut, a Democrat from Cleveland, noted "He's a heartbeat away, a peanut away from being the governor of the state of Ohio. No, he was not elected by the people." Senate Democratic leader C. J. Prentiss of Cleveland was quoted by The Columbus Dispatch on January 5: "In essence, voters are being denied their franchise of public participation and are not having a voice in this process. This is the severity of what can happen with one-party rule, and we want to protect their interest by objecting to this charade of an unelected public official." "We need to have a discussion and not just appoint him in ten minutes or less," said Senator Dan Brady, a Democrat from Cleveland. Brady