33 Facts About Richard Codey

Richard James Codey was born on November 27,1946 and is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New Jersey from 2004 to 2006.

Richard Codey represented the 27th Legislative District, which covered the western portions of Essex County and the southeastern portion of Morris County.

Richard Codey grew up in his family's funeral home in Orange.

Richard Codey attended Our Lady of the Valley High School and transferred to Orange High School before switching to Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, from which he graduated.

Richard Codey took over his father's job as a licensed funeral director.

When his father, Donald, became the county coroner, Richard Codey was drafted to help with death scene pickups.

Richard 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.

Richard Codey served in the Assembly from 1974 to 1982.

Richard Codey was first elected to the State Senate in 1981.

Richard Codey rose through the ranks to become Senate President.

Richard Codey first ascended to that post in 2002 and remained in it until 2010.

Richard Codey has a hockey arena named in his honor, known as South Mountain Arena in West Orange, New Jersey.

Richard Codey became acting governor of New Jersey upon the resignation of Jim McGreevey on November 15,2004.

Richard Codey served the remainder of McGreevey's unexpired term, remaining governor until January 17,2006.

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, Richard Codey was one of several Catholic legislators who supported legislation legalizing assisted suicide.

The latter two then divided the last week of the term between them, with Richard Codey serving for three days, from January 12,2002, to January 15,2002, leading to a situation in which the state had five different people serving as governor during a period of eight days.

Richard Codey became acting governor again with the resignation of Jim McGreevey on November 15,2004.

On June 6,2005, Richard 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.

On January 9,2006, Richard Codey became governor 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.

Richard 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.

Richard 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, Richard Codey cracked down on pay to play when he signed a law banning campaign contributions by businesses holding state contracts in several circumstances.

Richard Codey created a task force to recommend ways to end steroid abuse in high school and college sports in the state.

Richard Codey successfully negotiated for MetLife Stadium, which was constructed jointly by the New York Giants and New York Jets.

In December 2005, Richard 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.

Richard Codey said he felt the slogan "We'll win you over" made the state seem desperate.

Governor Richard 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, Richard Codey announced the winner: "New Jersey: Come See for Yourself".

Shortly before leaving the governor's office, Richard Codey signed the first legislative moratorium on capital punishment enacted by any state in the nation.

Richard Codey served the remainder of McGreevey's unexpired term, remaining governor until January 17,2006.

Richard Codey became acting governor since New Jersey did not have the position of lieutenant governor until after the 2009 election.

Richard 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".