HELENA – Former secretary of state Mike Cooney was sworn in as Montana’s lieutenant governor on Monday morning.
Gov. Steve Bullock named Cooney as his third lieutenant governor last Wednesday. Cooney had been working as deputy commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry. The lieutenant governor’s salary is about $22,000 a year less than he received in his previous post.
Cooney replaces Angela McLean, who submitted her written resignation over the weekend. She begins work Monday as director of American Indian and minority achievement and K-12 partnerships with the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.
She announced in November that she was living the executive branch. Emails revealed tensions between McLean and the governor and his staff.