 Another woman, Kristen Cox, who was the Secretary of Disabilities, unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor as the running mate of then incumbent Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich, when the lieutenant governor at that time, Michael Steele, left office to run for the U.S. Senate.Cox was a unique person to run for that office, not only because she is a woman, but also because she is legally blind.In 1971, the office of Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, which had existed for only a few years in the 1860s, was re-instituted by an amendment to the Maryland Constitution.