Richard Codey

Richard James Codey (born November 27, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New Jersey from 2004 to 2006. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served in the New Jersey Senate since 1982 and served as the President of the Senate from 2002 to 2010. He represents the 27th Legislative District, which covers 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 continuously since January 8, 1974. He has served as the Deputy Senate President Pro Tem since 2022. In August 2023, Codey announced that he would not seek re-election and would retire from the state senate when his term ends in January 2024, having served for 50 years in the legislature. Early life 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, neither of them successfully, before switching to Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, from which he graduated. He went on to take over his father's job as a licensed funeral director. When his father, Donald, became the county coroner, Richard was drafted to help with death scene pickups. Codey remembered, "I was 14, taking bodies out of train wrecks. You grow up quick." Codey has described himself as "100% Irish". 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. In 1981 he earned a bachelor's degree in education from Fairleigh Dickinson University.