Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is a position that has existed since January 2010, following conjoint election with the Governor of New Jersey

Governor of New Jersey

The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...

. The position was created as the result of a Constitutional amendment

Constitutional amendment

A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...

to the New Jersey State Constitution

New Jersey State Constitution

The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the state has been governed by three constitutions...

passed by the voters on November 8, 2005. While the amendment itself took effect as of January 17, 2006, and made some interim changes to the succession to the governorship, the first lieutenant governor

Lieutenant governor (United States)

In the United States, 43 of the 50 states have a separate, full-time office of lieutenant governor. In most cases, the lieutenant governor is the highest officer of state after the governor, standing in for that officer when he or she is absent from the state or temporarily incapacitated...

was not elected until November 3, 2009, when Republican Kim Guadagno

Kim Guadagno

Kim Guadagno is the first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, having won the 2009 election as the running mate of Governor Chris Christie. She is also concurrently the Secretary of State of New Jersey.-Early life:...

was chosen by the voters as the running-mate of Chris Christie.

Background

Prior to the creation of the Lieutenant Governor's office, the Governor of New Jersey was the only state-wide (non-federal

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

) elected office in the state. Thus, unlike many other states that have elections for cabinet

Cabinet (government)

A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

-level positions, the New Jersey State Constitution allows the governor to appoint them. In the event of a gubernatorial vacancy, the New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

Constitution had specified that the President of the New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Senate

The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. From 1844 until 1965 New Jersey's counties elected one Senator, each. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947...

(followed by the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly

New Jersey General Assembly

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...

) would assume the role of Acting Governor and retain their powerful role in the Senate (or Assembly). An Acting Governor would then assume the powerful governorship while retaining the reins of power in their house of the legislature.

This situation has occurred twice in recent years: when Christine Todd Whitman

Christine Todd Whitman

Christine Todd "Christie" Whitman is an American Republican politician and author who served as the 50th Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and was the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She was New...

stepped down in 2001 to assume the position of administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

; and when James E. McGreevey

Jim McGreevey

James Edward "Jim" McGreevey is an American Democratic politician. He served as the 52nd Governor of New Jersey from January 15, 2002, until he resigned from office at 11:59 pm on November 15, 2004. His term was set to expire on January 17, 2006...

resigned amid scandal on November 15, 2004. At both occasions, New Jersey's constitution (along with Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, and Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

) had no position of Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant governor

A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...

. After Whitman's resignation, Donald DiFrancesco

Donald DiFrancesco

Donald Thomas DiFrancesco was the 51st Governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002 by virtue of his status as President of the New Jersey Senate, the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature....

, then John Bennett

John O. Bennett

John O. Bennett III is a former New Jersey Republican politician who served as State Senator, President of the State Senate, and Acting Governor of New Jersey during the course of his career.-Education:...

, and finally Richard Codey

Richard Codey

Richard James Codey is an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 53rd Governor of New Jersey from November 2004 to January 2006. He has served in the New Jersey Senate since 1981 and served as the President of the Senate from 2002 to January 2010. He represents the 27th Legislative...

became Acting Governors. In McGreevey's case, Codey again became the Acting Governor. In each of these situations, the Acting Governor concurrently served as President of the State Senate.

While concerns had long been raised regarding the succession in the event of a vacancy, these two resignations in a span of a few years raised greater public attention to the issue. Justifications for the creation of a Lieutenant Governor position focused on three primary issues:

Unelected / Nonrepresentative Successor - The Senate President is chosen by the members of the New Jersey Senate, and was not elected by voters statewide to be a potential gubernatorial successor. Those eligible to become Senate President are elected to the Senate by the voters in only one of the forty legislative districts statewide.
Separation of Powers - In a state with an extremely powerful position of Governor, having the Senate President assume the role of Acting Governor is a breach of the separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...

of the executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...

and legislative branches.
Political party disparity - There is no guarantee that the Senate President (or the Lieutenant Governor) will follow the legislative platform of his predecessor. As the Senate President may not even be from the same party, there is even greater concern that the policies of the Acting Governor might be in conflict with those of the preceding governor.

Lieutenant Governor amendment

With these concerns in mind, on Election Day, November 8, 2005, the voters passed an amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution that creates the position of Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey effective with the 2009 elections. The amendment also provides that in the event of a permanent vacancy in the office of Governor after January 17, 2006 and before the first Lieutenant Governor had taken office in 2010, the President of the Senate, followed by the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly

New Jersey General Assembly

, would become Governor but will then vacate his or her Senate (or Assembly) seat by the action of assuming the office.

The amendment provides a new order of succession:

In the event of a vacancy in the office of Governor resulting from the death, resignation or removal of a Governor in office, or the death of a Governor-elect, or from any other cause, the Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor, until a new Governor is elected and qualifies.

In the event of simultaneous vacancies in both the offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor resulting from any cause, the President of the Senate shall become Governor until a new Governor or Lieutenant Governor is elected and qualifies. In the event that there is a vacancy in the office of Senate President, or the Senate President declines to become Governor, then the Speaker of the General Assembly shall become Governor until a new Governor or Lieutenant Governor is elected and qualifies. In the event that there is a vacancy in the office of Speaker of the General Assembly, or if the Speaker declines to become Governor, then the functions, powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve for the time being upon such officers and in the order of succession as may be provided by law, until a new Governor or Lieutenant Governor is elected and qualifies. (Article V, Section I, paragraph 6)

The amendment also provides:

The Governor shall appoint the Lieutenant Governor to serve as the head of a principal department or other executive or administrative agency of State government, or delegate to the Lieutenant Governor duties of the office of Governor, or both. The Governor shall not appoint the Lieutenant Governor to serve as Attorney General. The Lieutenant Governor shall in addition perform such other duties as may be provided by law. (Article V, Section I, paragraph 10)

First election, 2009

During the week before the July 27, 2009, deadline for the gubernatorial candidates to designate their running mates, Republican candidate Chris Christie

Christopher J. Christie

Christopher James "Chris" Christie is the 55th and current Governor of New Jersey. Upon his election to the governorship in November 2009, Christie became the first Republican to win a statewide election in New Jersey in 12 years. In 2011, he considered entering the race for the Republican...

selected Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno

Kim Guadagno

, while Democratic incumbent Governor Jon Corzine

Jon Corzine

Jon Stevens Corzine is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and of MF Global, and a one time American politician, who served as the 54th Governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. A Democrat, Corzine served five years of a six-year U.S. Senate term representing New Jersey before being elected Governor...

chose State Senator Loretta Weinberg

Loretta Weinberg

Loretta Weinberg is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served as a member of the New Jersey Senate since 2005, where she represents the 37th Legislative District...

. On July 27, independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett

Christopher Daggett

Christopher Jarvis "Chris" Daggett is a former regional administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection...

selected as his running mate Frank J. Esposito

Frank J. Esposito

Frank John Esposito is an American historian, educator, and university administrator. He is the Distinguished Service Professor of History at Kean University in Union, New Jersey...

, a Kean University

Kean University

Kean University is a coeducational, public research university located in Union and Hillside, New Jersey, United States. Kean University serves its students in the liberal arts, the sciences, and the professions with a dedication to intellectual and cultural growth and is best known for its...

history professor who once served as interim president of the university.

#	Governor Governor of New Jersey The Office of the Governor of New Jersey is the executive branch for the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of Governor is an elected position, for which elected officials serve four year terms. While individual politicians may serve as many terms as they can be elected to, Governors cannot be...	Terms
1		Kim Guadagno Kim Guadagno Kim Guadagno is the first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, having won the 2009 election as the running mate of Governor Chris Christie. She is also concurrently the Secretary of State of New Jersey.-Early life:...	January 19, 2010	present	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	Chris Christie

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