Richard Codey

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Richard Codey

53^{rd 1} Governor of New Jersey
In office November 15, 2004 ¹ – January 17, 2006
Preceded by	James E. McGreevey
Succeeded by	Jon S. Corzine

Born	November 27, 1946 Orange, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Jo Codey
Profession	Politician
1. As of January 9, 2006, New Jersey law states that an Acting Governor serving for 180 or more days is officially Governor. This applies retroactively to both Richard Codey and Donald DiFrancesco.

Richard James "Dick" Codey (born November 27, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician in the U.S. State of New Jersey. He grew up in East Orange and graduated from Oratory Preparatory School in Summit. He went on to take over his father's job as a licensed funeral director. Codey served as the 53rd Governor of New Jersey (by virtue of his status as President of the New Jersey Senate) from the resignation of Governor James McGreevey on November 15, 2004 until the inauguration of Jon Corzine on January 17, 2006. Codey has been the Democratic President of the New Jersey Senate (the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature) since 2002, representing the 27th Legislative District, which covers the western portions of Essex County.

1 Biography
2 Cabinet
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Codey has served as a State Senator since 1982, and earlier as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, from 1974 to 1981. As Senate President, he also served as Acting Governor of New Jersey for three and one half days in January, 2002. Codey became Acting Governor again with the resignation of Jim McGreevey on November 15, 2004. According to the New Jersey State Constitution at the time, in the event of a vacancy in the Governor's office, the President of the State Senate takes on the additional position of Acting Governor until the next gubernatorial election. After taking over in 2004 Codey became popular with many New Jersey residents and reportedly considered a run for a full four-year term. However, U.S. Senator Jon Corzine's large number of endorsements as well as his large campaign war chest, funded primarily by his great personal wealth, convinced Codey to announce officially on January 31, 2005 that he would step aside. Codey served as Governor until Corzine was sworn in on January 17, 2006 following Corzine's victory in the November 8, 2005 elections. Some had speculated that Codey could be a possible candidate for Corzine's vacant seat in the United States Senate, with Corzine appointing his own successor once he is sworn in as Governor. However, Codey announced on November 23, 2005 that he was not interested in pursuing the Senate seat.

With the passage on November 8, 2005, of a constitutional amendment creating the position of Lieutenant Governor, Codey is the last person to serve simultaneously as Governor and Senate President. In the event of a gubernatorial vacancy before the first Lieutenant Governor takes office on January 12, 2010, the Senate President (or Assembly Speaker) will become Governor and will be required to relinquish his (or her) seat in the legislature.

On January 9, 2006, Codey became Governor (no longer Acting Governor) as a result of his signing legislation that provides a person who serves as Acting Governor for continuous period of at least 180 days will be "Governor of the State of New Jersey" for official and historical purposes. Codey has been an outspoken advocate of mental health awareness and strongly favors including mental health funding in employee medical benefit packages and Medicare. Both Codey and his wife, Mary Jo, have spoken candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression.

In early 2005, Codey responded in person to New Jersey 101.5 talk radio host Craig Carton, who jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air. Some argue that Codey's comments were a physical threat against the radio personality. The Governor himself admits to telling Carton during the altercation that he wished he could "take [Carton] outside", while in the presence of the six New Jersey State Policemen who were serving as his personal bodyguards. There was some speculation that this incident helped Codey decide not to run for a full term as governor. In July 2005, Codey also defended actress Brooke Shields after she faced criticism for discussing her postpartum depression. In December 2005, Codey appeared on Carton's radio program to help put the incident behind him.

As governor, Codey championed a bill to ban smoking from indoor spaces in the state, more money for stem cell research, increased funding for mental health, and sports. Codey created a task force to recommend ways to end steroid abuse in high school and college sports in the state. The task force established drug testing for high school athletes on teams that play in the championship. The state will pay for the drug testing program. He also negotiated a successful new stadium to be constructed jointly by the New York Giants and New York Jets.

In December 2005, Codey announced he was not accepting a new state slogan recommended by the State Commerce Department, following a study by a marketing consultant, which was paid for by the state. He said he felt the slogan, "We'll win you over", made the state seem desperate. Governor Codey openly solicited slogan suggestions from citizens and then choose five finalists, which he opened to a vote from the public. Days prior to leaving the governor's office, Codey announced the winner: New Jersey: Come See for Yourself.

Ironically, as Corzine attended the swearing in of Robert Menendez as a U.S. Senator on January 18, 2006, in Washington, D.C., Codey spent part of his first day as former governor, as the acting governor of the state.

Codey is next up for election to the New Jersey Senate in 2007. Codey represents the 27th Legislative District together with Assemblymen Mims Hackett and John F. McKeon, who is coincidentally also the mayor of West Orange, a town in Essex County, New Jersey, where Senator Codey's family was raised and currently lives.

In September, 2006, during Mr. Menendez's re-election campaign for his U.S. Senate seat, it was revealed that Menendez was the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The situation closely resembles the situation faced by Robert Torricelli in his 2002 re-election campaign, where ethical problems and declining poll numbers led to Torricelli exiting the race, to be replaced as the Democratic candidate by former senator Frank Lautenberg. Political observers speculated that Codey could be tapped to fill the candidate's slot should Menendez decide to withdraw from the race.^[1] However, on November 7, 2006, Menendez was elected to a full term.

[edit] Cabinet

Virginia Bauer, Secretary of Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism
George Hayman, Acting Commissioner of Corrections (as of January 3, 2006)
Donald Bryan, Acting Commissioner of Banking and Insurance
Peter Cammarano, Chief of Staff to the Governor
Bradley Campbell, Commissioner of Environmental Protection
Thomas Carver, Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development (until October 2005)
James Davy, Commissioner of Human Services
Lucille Davy, Acting Commissioner of Education (from September 2005)
Paul Fader, Chief Counsel to the Governor
Jeanne Fox, President of the Board of Public Utilities
Col. Joseph Fuentes, Superintendent of the State Police
Peter C. Harvey, State Attorney General
Dr. Fred Jacobs, Commissioner of Health and Senior Services
Charles Kuperus, Secretary of Agriculture
John Lettiere, Commissioner of Transportation
Susan Bass Levin, Commissioner of Community Affairs (until June 2005)
William Librera, Commissioner of Education (until September 2005)
John McCormac, State Treasurer
Charles Richman, Acting Commissioner of Community Affairs (from June 2005)
Major Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, Adjutant General
A.J. Sabath, Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development (from October 2005)
Seema Singh, Ratepayer Advocate
Regena Thomas, Secretary of State
Rolando Torres, Commissioner of Personnel

[edit] References

^ [1]The Hotline -- National Journal's Daily Briefing on Politics, National Journal Group, Sept. 28, 2006 (subscription required)

[edit] External links

Preceded by: John O. Bennett	Acting Governor of New Jersey January 12, 2002–January 15, 2002	Succeeded by: James E. McGreevey
Preceded by: James E. McGreevey	Governor of New Jersey November 15, 2004 – January 17, 2006	Succeeded by: Jon S. Corzine