The bipartisan Legislative Audit Commission has recommended that state Rep. Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) be tapped for the role of Illinois Auditor General.

Mautino, his chamber's deputy majority leader, was picked out of a total of four finalists, which included Democratic state Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook), Mary Modelski, division chief of the California's Alameda County audit department, and attorney Larry Sanders from Marion, Illinois. The state legislature will need to approve the recommendation by a three-fourths vote in order for Mautino to take the office. Mautino, who was previously on the Legislative Audit Commission, has been in the general assembly since 1991, when he was tapped to fill his father's seat after his death. Since that time, he has represented all or portions of Bureau, LaSalle, Livingston and Putnam counties.

The new auditor general will be replacing William Holland, who resigned earlier this year and plans to retire in December. If Mautino takes the auditor general post, Democrats will have to appoint someone to take his seat until the 2016 election. Republicans reportedly see such a move as an opportunity to snap up another seat in the state legislature.