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RICHARD J. CODEY was born on November 27, 1946. He received a bachelor's degree in education from Fairleigh Dickinson University. A licensed funeral director and insurance broker, Codey also headed an insurance company. From 1974 to the present, he served in the New Jersey State Legislature, first as a state Assemblyman from 1974 through 1981 before becoming a state senator in 1982, a position he currently holds. As Senate president since 2002, he took over the additional role of acting governor* when Governor James E. McGreevey resigned from office on November 15, 2004. He and his wife Mary Jo have two sons.

* Codey previously served as acting governor from 12:01 a.m. January 12, 2002 until noon January 15, 2002, when he split the acting governor responsibility with his Senate co-president, John Bennett, during the time between the expiration of Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco's term (when he was also serving as acting governor) and the swearing in of the newly elected governor, James E. McGreevey.