Darr, the Republican lieutenant governor of Arkansas, announced Friday that he will resign Feb 1. Earlier this month, he agreed to pay the state ethics commission $11,000 in fines for making personal use of campaign funds and receiving improper expense reimbursements from the state.
Darr called his errors "careless and lazy," but said they were not intentional violations of the law. In a series of interviews with Arkansas news outlets Tuesday, Darr said he would refuse to resign.
That triggered serious talk of impeachment. Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe had called on Darr to resign, as did all the Republican members of the state's congressional delegation.
Darr isn't the only lieutenant governor to run into problems lately. Last year, the lieutenant governors of three other states — Florida, Massachusetts and Nebraska — all stepped down amidst scandal.
Last month, Ohio Democrats dropped from their ticket state Sen. Eric Kearney, their erstwhile pick for lieutenant governor this year, due to unpaid taxes.
On the Republican side, a Tea Party primary challenge against Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich was dropped this month due to similar tax questions dogging putative lieutenant governor candidate Brenda Mack.
The office may not usually have much power, but some of its occupants do have the knack for getting themselves in trouble. There are several possible explanations for this.
