Can the Maine Senate elect two co-Presidents to share the office at the same time?

Plain-English summary

State Senator Michael Michaud orally asked Attorney General Andrew Ketterer whether the Maine Senate could elect two co-Presidents to share the office. The question came up amid the closely-divided post-2000-election Senate, where some observers proposed a power-sharing arrangement. Attorney General Ketterer concluded that the Maine Constitution does not permit two co-Presidents.

The textual argument rested on Article IV, Part 2, § 8, which states that "[t]he Senate shall choose their President, Secretary and other officers." The opinion read the singular "President" plus common sense as contemplating one person at a time. The structural argument was even stronger. Several constitutional provisions assign duties to "the President of the Senate" individually, including the joint authority with the Speaker of the House to call the Legislature into session (Art. IV, Part 3, § 1), assumption of the office of Governor when there is a vacancy (Art. V, Part 1, § 14), and exercise of gubernatorial powers when the Governor is disabled (Art. V, Part 1, § 15). Splitting those duties between two people would create constitutional confusion.

The decisive authority was an 1830 Opinion of the Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, in which Chief Justice Mellen wrote: "There cannot be two Presidents of the Senate at the same time, when there is only one Senate in existence . . . Unless this construction is adopted, there may be confusion in the administration of government." The 1830 opinion arose from a different question (gubernatorial succession on a transition between political years), but its statement of the single-President rule was direct, unqualified, and decisive of the present question. AG Ketterer enclosed a copy of the 1830 opinion with his letter.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Why does the singular "President" in Art. IV, Part 2, § 8 matter?

The AG read it as the basic textual signal that the framers contemplated one President. Constitutional grammar matters less when the structure also points the same direction. Here, multiple other provisions allocate specific duties to a single President of the Senate, which only works if there is one.

Why did the gubernatorial succession provision (Art. V, Part 1, § 14) carry so much weight?

Because it places the President of the Senate first in line to assume the office of Governor on a vacancy. The opinion treats this as self-evident proof that the framers needed one identifiable President at any given moment. If a vacancy occurred and there were two co-Presidents, the state would have two simultaneous claimants to the governor's office, an outcome the framers cannot plausibly have intended.

What about a rotating co-Presidency where only one person serves on any given day?

The AG did not specifically address rotation. Its reasoning would arguably extend to any arrangement that places more than one person in the office of President "at the same time." A rotation that genuinely vests the title in only one person at a time, with formal handoffs, would test the edges of the opinion.

Is the 1830 Opinion of the Justices binding?

Opinions of the Justices are advisory: the Justices respond to the Governor or Council on legal questions under what is now Me. Const. art. VI, § 3. They do not have the formal precedential weight of a contested case decision. But they are highly authoritative interpretations of the Maine Constitution and are typically followed.

Is there any precedent for co-Presidents elsewhere?

The opinion does not survey other states. AG Ketterer framed Maine's rule strictly as a matter of the Maine Constitution's text and structure, and the 1830 Opinion of the Justices, rather than as a comparative-law question.

Background and statutory framework

Maine's 2000 elections produced a closely divided Senate, prompting the inquiry. Power-sharing arrangements between parties were on the table, including the possibility of co-Presidents to allow each caucus to share the chair role. The opinion came down before the new Senate organized.

The 1830 Opinion of the Justices arose in a different context (a question about gubernatorial succession through the office of President of the Senate), but, as AG Ketterer quoted it, Chief Justice Mellen stated the broader principle directly: there cannot be two Presidents of the Senate at the same time when only one Senate exists. AG Ketterer enclosed a copy of the 1830 opinion with his letter.

Citations

• Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 2, § 8 (Senate chooses President and other officers)
• Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 1 (joint authority with House Speaker to call Legislature into session)
• Me. Const. art. V, pt. 1, § 14 (President of Senate assumes office of Governor on vacancy)
• Me. Const. art. V, pt. 1, § 15 (President of Senate exercises gubernatorial powers during Governor's disability)
• Opinion of the Justices, 6 Me. 506 (Greenleaf 434) (1830)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.maine.gov/legis/lawlib/lldl/agops/agops.htm
• Original PDF: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/AG/Opinions/2000/ag_20001114.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF MAINE
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
6 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333-0006

Andrew Ketterer
Attorney General

November 14, 2000

The Honorable Michael H. Michaud
111 Main Street
East Millinocket, Maine 04430

Dear Senator Michaud:

This will respond to your oral request for an opinion from this Office inquiring as to whether it is constitutionally permissible for the Maine Senate to elect co-Presidents of the Senate. In other words, you have asked whether two individuals could simultaneously serve as Presidents of the Senate and somehow share that office. For the reasons which follow, it is the opinion of this Office that the election of co-Presidents of the Senate is not allowed under Maine's Constitution.

Article IV, Part II, § 8 of the Maine Constitution provides that "[t]he Senate shall choose their President, Secretary and other officers." Thus, the Constitution itself contemplates that the Senate will select certain officers including a President and Secretary. Moreover, the literal language of the Constitution, as well as common sense, would seem to suggest that the Constitution contemplates that the office of President of the Senate be occupied by one person at a time.

The actual duties and responsibilities of the President of the Senate are not described in detail in the Constitution itself. The Constitution only describes a few limited duties the President of the Senate is either authorized or required to perform. Among these is the authority, with the Speaker of the House, to call the Legislature into session under certain circumstances. See Article IV, Part 3, § 1. Article V, Part 1, § 14 provides that "[w]henever the office of Governor shall become vacant because of the death, resignation or removal of a Governor in office, or any other cause, the President of the Senate shall assume the office of Governor until another Governor shall be duly qualified." Similarly, "[w]henever the Governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of that office because of mental or physical disability, the President of the Senate . . . shall exercise the powers and duties of the office of Governor until the Governor is again able to discharge the powers and duties of that office . . ." Article V, Part 1, § 15, Me. Const.

Given the nature of the responsibilities imposed by the Constitution on the President of the Senate, particularly the fact that the President of the Senate is first in the line of succession to the office of Governor, it would appear to be self-evident that the Constitution only permits one President of the Senate at a time. This is precisely what the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine held in 1830. In Opinion of the Justices, 6 Me. 506 (Greenleaf 434) (1830), Chief Justice Mellen expressed the following opinion:

There cannot be two Presidents of the Senate at the same time, when there is only one Senate in existence. . . .

Unless this construction is adopted, there may be confusion in the administration of government; for if there may be, consistently with the constitution, two Presidents of the Senate at the same time, to whom shall the language of the article and section before cited apply? Both Presidents are not intended; the provision contemplates but one as in existence. A construction of the constitution leading to such consequences, and involving such inconsistencies, I cannot consider as legitimate and correct, or as ever contemplated by those who framed the constitution.

6 Me. at 508 (Greenleaf at 436) (emphasis in original). For your convenience, I have enclosed a copy of the Opinion of the Justices which was issued in 1830.

I hope this information was helpful to you. Please feel free to call upon me if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

ANDREW KETTERER
Attorney General

(The 1830 Opinion of the Justices, 6 Me. 506 (Greenleaf 434), is enclosed as referenced.)