Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll is up for re-election this year and as many as four Democrats may try to unseat her in the upcoming primary. But are the people served by having a lieutenant governor?

It's almost unprecedented for a sitting lieutenant governor to have that much competition from her own party. But who wouldn't want the job? After all, it's pretty cushy. The lieutenant governor doesn't have to do that much, gets paid $135,000 a year and commands an administrative staff of 11 people.

Their official residence is a spacious mansion—much nicer than the governor's mansion, by the way. The governor's mansion is cold and impersonal like a museum. It sits on a busy street in Harrisburg with a gas station on the corner and pesky tourists who parade around. But the lieutenant governor's mansion is tucked away in bucolic Fort Indiantown Gap, 22 miles from Harrisburg. More like a palatial estate with an expansive in-ground pool and roomy cabanas, it's perfect for entertaining. The lieutenant governor's mansion staff (separate from the office staff) includes a chef, so poolside picnics and formal indoor dining are a breeze. (We couldn't get an exact figure by press time, but we're guessing it's pretty expensive to even heat the building in the winter, let alone keep it nice and tidy all year.)

The lieutenant governor needn't worry about a long commute to the Capitol either. She is chauffeured around by state troopers and protected by them 24/7, just like Gov. Ed Rendell.

So, what does the lieutenant governor do all day? "Obviously, Pennsylvanians feel her job is important," says Johnna Pro, Knoll's director of communications. "She's incredibly busy; she goes to thousands of events annually, including many public appearances for the governor." The office has a couple of mandated functions. The main one is to preside over the Senate, which doesn't take all day. Take last Monday: The lieutenant governor sat over the session, which didn't start until 2 p.m.

As we're all told, it's an important position because if there happens to be a tie in the Senate, the lieutenant governor casts the deciding vote. How often does that happen and what does that mean?

"It's rare," said Mark Corrigan, secretary of the Pennsylvania Senate. "There was a tie twice in 1972, eight times in 1993, and four times in 1994, going back the last 20 years. But these votes are not for passing bills. They're only a vote on procedural matters—unlike the U.S. Senate where the vice president can pass a bill."

The lieutenant governor also sits on a few boards such as the Board of Pardons, the Local Government Advisory Committee and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Council. He or she also attends those aforementioned ceremonial functions like Queen Elizabeth. For example, on Tuesday, Baker Knoll went to a memorial service in Harrisburg, then to a minimum-wage rally at the Capitol, presided over the Senate and, in the evening, stopped off at an America-Israel Chamber reception in Rittenhouse Square.

Of course, if something happens to the governor—a rare occurrence—the lieutenant governor takes over. This happened in 1993 when Lt. Gov. Mark Singel became the acting governor while Gov. Bob Casey Sr. , who was diagnosed with Appalachian familiar amyloidosis, recovered from a double organ transplant. Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker also became the governor in 2001 when Gov. Tom Ridge went to Washington after President George W. Bush tapped him as Homeland Security director. Schweiker finished out the term until the next election in 2003.

Would Baker Knoll be able to step up to the plate and take over if Gov. Ed Rendell left to run for vice president or become disabled?

Rendell's press secretary Kate Philips said that Rendell is confident that Baker Knoll could carry on if she had to, and that he includes her in important meetings as a Cabinet member, which, she added, he is not required to do.

So what might happen if we got rid of the office?

Nothing horrific occurred to New Jersey when Gov. James McGreevy resigned in 2004 after he came out as a "gay American." N.J. Senate Majority Leader Richard Codey became acting governor until John Corzine was elected as the new governor last year.

To abolish the office of lieutenant governor, the state Constitution must be amended—and that is not an easy thing to do.

If the lieutenant governor were to become more of a chief of staff to the governor and just had an office in the Capitol—with no mansion and no state troopers—they could be a more effective tool and lobby the Senate on behalf of the governor. While nobody's currently calling for the position to be abolished, or even reined in, public outcry about government waste could eventually spread to figurehead offices like this one.