Richard James Codey (born November 27, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 53rd

governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

from 2004 to 2006. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

from 1982 to 2024 and as the President of the Senate from 2002 to 2010. He represented the 27th Legislative District, which covered the western portions of Essex County and the southeastern portion of Morris County. Codey is the longest-serving state legislator in New Jersey history, having served in the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

continuously from January 8, 1974 to January 9, 2024.O'Neill, James M.; and Stile, Charles
"Sen. Richard Codey, NJ's longest-serving legislator and a former governor, is retiring"
'' The Record'', August 14, 2023. Accessed August 16, 2023. "Former governor and state Sen. Richard J. Codey, the longest-serving legislator in New Jersey history, who held the top post for a 14-month period, announced he will be stepping down after 50 years of service. He said he will finish out the Senate term this year and then retire."

Early life and education

Codey has described himself as "100% Irish". Codey grew up in his family's funeral home in Orange. He attended Our Lady of the Valley High School and transferred to Orange High School before switching to Oratory Preparatory School in

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

, from which he graduated. Codey took over his father's job as a licensed

funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

. When his father, Donald, became the county coroner, Codey was drafted to help with death scene pickups. Codey remembered, "I was 14, taking bodies out of train wrecks. You grow up quick".Richard J. Codey
NNDB Biography In 1981, he earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

New Jersey Assembly

Codey left the funeral trade to try his hand in politics in 1973 when he was first elected to the State Assembly, with Eldridge Hawkins as his running mate. He served in the Assembly from 1974 to 1982.

New Jersey Senate

Codey was first elected to the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

in 1981. He rose through the ranks to become Senate President. He first ascended to that post in 2002 and remained in it until 2010. He served on the Legislative Services Commission.Senator Richard J. Codey

. Accessed January 28, 2022. Codey also has a hockey arena named in his honor, also known as South Mountain Arena in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

Return to Senate service

Codey became acting governor of New Jersey upon the resignation of Jim McGreevey on November 15, 2004. He served the remainder of McGreevey's unexpired term, remaining governor until January 17, 2006. Instead of running for a full term as governor, Codey was re-elected to the

in 2007. In 2009, Codey "was ousted from the Senate president post in a deal brokered by South Jersey Democratic Party leader George E. Norcross III, the state's most powerful unelected Democrat and Codey's arch political enemy for years". In December 2016, Codey was one of several

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

legislators who supported legislation legalizing

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

Governor of New Jersey

2002

Following Governor Christine Todd Whitman's resignation in 2001 to become head of the EPA, Codey was one of three different senate presidents to serve as acting governor within the one-year period between Whitman's resignation and Jim McGreevey's inauguration in January 2002. Codey served in that capacity for three days, from January 12, 2002 to January 15, 2002.

2004 to 2006

Codey became acting governor again with the resignation of Jim McGreevey on November 15, 2004. On June 6, 2005, Codey announced revised nutrition guidelines for all state funded public and private schools, eliminating soda, candy, and other products with sugar as the leading ingredient from cafeteria offerings. The law became effective on September 1, 2007. On November 8, 2005, a

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...

creating the position of lieutenant governor of New Jersey was passed. The amendment took effect in 2009 election. Codey is the last person to serve simultaneously as governor and senate president. On January 9, 2006, Codey became governor (no longer

acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or a ...

) as a result of his signing legislation that provided that a person who serves as acting governor for a continuous period of at least 180 days will be "Governor of the State of New Jersey" for official and historical purposes. This law was made retroactive to 2001, covering both Codey's service after McGreevey's resignation and the service of Donald DiFrancesco following the resignation of Governor Christine Todd Whitman in 2001. This made DiFrancesco New Jersey's 51st governor and Codey the 53rd. Codey appointed Mary Jane Cooper to be New Jersey's first-ever Inspector General, a position created to root out waste and mismanagement in government. Codey added $7 million in new funding to agencies devoted to public accountability, per the recommendations that resulted from an audit of state ethics codes that he commissioned. In March 2005, Codey cracked down on

pay to play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mu ...

when he signed a law banning campaign contributions by businesses holding state contracts in several circumstances. 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 championships, with the state paying for the drug testing program. He also successfully negotiated for

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. It opened in 2010, replacing Giants Stadium, and serves as the home for the ...

, which was constructed jointly by the New York Giants and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. 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". Shortly before leaving the governor's office, Codey signed the first legislative moratorium on capital punishment enacted by any state in the nation. The moratorium ended with the permanent ban of capital punishment by Codey's successor, Jon Corzine. Codey served the remainder of McGreevey's unexpired term, remaining governor until January 17, 2006.

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 State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

* 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 of New Jersey The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

* Rolando Torres, Commissioner of Personnel

2007

On April 12, 2007, Codey became Acting Governor of New Jersey when Corzine was incapacitated due to serious injuries suffered in a car accident that day. Codey became acting governor since New Jersey did not have the position of lieutenant governor until after the 2009 election. Corzine resumed his duties as governor on May 7, 2007.

Public opinion summary

As Codey prepared to leave the governor's office, a January 2006 study showed that 48% of voters said the state was "on the wrong track", while 34% said it was headed in the right direction. However, though voters had a negative view of the direction of state, their view of Gov. Codey was strongly positive. In that same study, 68% of voters who recognized Gov. Codey had a favorable opinion of him and the pollsters noted that the outgoing governor had "an impressive 5:1 ratio of favorable to unfavorable opinion". The Obama administration approached Codey in 2009 to consider running for governor in Corzine's place if the incumbent withdrew from his reelection bid, citing polls showing that Codey led Republican

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

. Corzine remained in the race and lost to Christie.Margolin, Joshua.
Gov. Corzine's N.J. re-election bid nearly abandoned as White House concerns grew
''The Star-Ledger'', November 4, 2009. Even after being out of the governor's office for over five years, Codey continued to make headlines as a prospective candidate for that office. In a FDU PublicMind Poll released September 27, 2011, voters were asked "If you could pick a Democrat to run against

for governor, who would you prefer?" Richard Codey came up as the most adequate candidate at 18% among other well-known Democrats like

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...

and Frank Pallone.

Personal life

Codey is married to Mary Jo Codey. The Codeys have two sons, Kevin and Chris.

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Assembly

References

External links

Richard Codey's 2011 Campaign web pageNew Jersey legislative web page

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

New Jersey Senate Democrats Website Biography
* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Codey, Richard 1946 births Democratic Party governors of New Jersey American funeral directors Living people Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Party New Jersey state senators New Jersey Democrats Orange High School (New Jersey) alumni Our Lady of the Valley High School alumni Politicians from Orange, New Jersey People from Roseland, New Jersey People from West Orange, New Jersey Presidents of the New Jersey Senate 20th-century American businesspeople Catholics from New Jersey 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature