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==Constitutional provisions==
==Constitutional provisions==
The governor and lieutenant governor must members of the same political party, campaign on the same ticket and are elected conjointly.<ref>New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 4.</ref>

===Qualifications===
===Qualifications===
As amended on 17 January 2006, New Jersey's state constitution mandates that a person may only be eligible for the position of lieutenant governor if they meet the eligibility qualifications to serve as governors. Article V, Section I, paragraph 2, requires that a candidate for governor (and thus lieutenant governor) be (1) at least 30 years old, (2) a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and (3) a resident of New Jersey for at least seven years.<ref>New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 2 (as amended, effective January 17, 2006). The amendment to this constitutional provision added the content regarding the eligibility of a person to be Lieutenant Governor. The qualifications for governor enumerated herewith have been unaltered since the 1947 constitution was enacted.</ref>
As amended on 17 January 2006, New Jersey's state constitution mandates that a person may only be eligible for the position of lieutenant governor if they meet the eligibility qualifications to serve as governors. Article V, Section I, paragraph 2, requires that a candidate for governor (and thus lieutenant governor) be (1) at least 30 years old, (2) a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and (3) a resident of New Jersey for at least seven years.<ref>New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 2 (as amended, effective January 17, 2006). The amendment to this constitutional provision added the content regarding the eligibility of a person to be Lieutenant Governor. The qualifications for governor enumerated herewith have been unaltered since the 1947 constitution was enacted.</ref>

Within 30 days after the conclusion of the [[primary election]] typically held on Tuesday in the first full week in June, the candidate for governor selects a [[running mate]] to join his ticket as the candidate for lieutenant governor.<ref name="NJSC1947ArtVSecIp4">New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 4.</ref> The governor and lieutenant governor must members of the same political party, campaign on the same ticket, are elected conjointly, and serve the same term concurrently.<ref name="NJSC1947ArtVSecIp4" />


===Duties in the administration===
===Duties in the administration===

Revision as of 22:14, 23 August 2013

Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey
Seal of New Jersey
Incumbent
Kim Guadagno
since January 19, 2010
StyleThe Honorable
Term lengthFour years, no term limit
Inaugural holderKim Guadagno
2010
FormationNew Jersey State Constitution amendment
SuccessionFirst

The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the state government of New Jersey that has existed since January 2010. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four-year term. The position was created as the result of a constitutional amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution that was passed by a voter referendum 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 was not elected until the next gubernatorial election held on November 3, 2009. Republican Kim Guadagno is the first to serve in the post, as she was chosen by Governor Chris Christie to be his running-mate in 2009 election.

History

Colonial lieutenant governors

See also: List of colonial governors of New Jersey
Thomas Pownall (1722–1805) was one of two men to serve as Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey (1755–1757) during the colonial period.

During the proprietary period (1664–1702), the colony was often administered in its first years by deputies who resided in North America and represented the province's governor and its major investors (the "proprietors") who typically resided in London.[1] However, in 1702, the proprietors of New Jersey's two provincial governments—East Jersey and West Jersey—surrendered their political authority to Queen Anne who transformed the a crown colony to be administered by a Royal Governor appointed by the monarch and sent from England to reside in the province.[2] For most of the colonial period, in the event of the resignation, prolonged absence or death of the Royal Governor, the province would be administered by an "acting governor" who was the president of the Governor's Council—the upper house of the colonial legislature. The council presidency was an honorary ceremonial post given to the council's oldest member.[3]

In its previous creation, only two individuals have held the post of Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey—both during the colonial period. This position existed only for two brief periods, from 1702–1709 and 1755–1757.

  • Richard Ingoldesby (d. 1719) was commissioned as the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey and New York in November 1702, first serving under the colony's first Royal Governor, Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury and then his successor John Lovelace, 4th Baron Lovelace.[4] Although Lord Cornbury was frequently absent from New Jersey and focused most of his efforts in New York, he refused to permit Ingoldesby any authority to govern. Ingoldesby became acting governor of both provinces briefly (1709–1710) after the sudden death of Lord Lovelace on May 6, 1709.[4] Ingoldesby's authority was opposed by rival factions of the colony's proprietors who asserted that his commission was invalid.[4][3] He furthered angered the colony's Quaker leaders by retaliating against them for refusing to support raising troops for a military effort to invade French colonies in Canada.[4][3][5] His commission as governor was revoked in October 1709, but the news of his removal did not reach him until April 1710.[4]
  • The second Lieutenant Governor, Thomas Pownall (1722-1805), was appointed to the post in 1755 under Royal Governor Jonathan Belcher (1681/2–1757).[6] When Belcher died on August 31, 1757, Pownall did not assume the governorship of New Jersey as he was appointed to fill the post of Royal Governor of Massachusetts a few weeks before Belcher's death and had departed for Boston.[6][7] The colony was then administered by John Reading (1686–1767) in his second tenure as "acting governor"—continuing the previous convention of the president of the Governor's Council assuming the governorship in an acting capacity. Reading assumed the post reluctantly, after first requesting Pownall to return to New Jersey in the aftermath of Belcher's death.[8]

Controversy over succession (2001–2006)

New Jersey Senator Richard Codey, a former funeral director from Orange, New Jersey, served as the state's acting governor twice in a few years span in after the resignations of Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Governor Jim McGreevey.

Prior to creating a the position of the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor of New Jersey was the only state-wide, non-federal, elected office. New Jersey was one of a few states in the United States that did not have a Lieutenant Governor to succeed to the governorship in the event of a vacancy in that office. Further, the state does not have elections for state-wide cabinet-level positions (the state constitution directs the Governor appoints them). In the event of a vacancy in the governor's office, the state constitution specified that the President of the New Jersey State Senate, the upper chamber of the state legislature, would assume the role of "Acting Governor" while retaining their powerful role in the State Senate.[9] The legacy of the Senate president assuming the governorship has its origins in the colonial institution where the President of the Governor's Council would fill a vacancy. This tradition was enshrined in the first state constitution in 1776,[10] and the subsequent 1844 constitution,[11] and kept in the 1947 Constitution until the 2005 amendment.[12]

In recent years, New Jersey had two acting governors within a few years. In 2001, Governor Christine Todd Whitman resigned after assuming the position of administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Whitman assumed the post after being appointed by President George W. Bush and left the governship with one year remaining on her second term. Senate president Donald DiFrancesco became acting governor following Whitman's resignation on January 31, 2001 and remained in office until he retired from the State Senate January 8, 2002. In a fluke of political circumstance, the 2001 legislative elections returned a senate with equal numbers of Republican and Democrat members in the 40-member Senate. Both sides negotiated to chose two senators from their respective parties to serve as Co-Presidents for that body. Because of an 8-day gap between the seating of the new state legislature, and the inauguration of the next governor-elect, three men held the position of acting governor:

  • New Jersey's Attorney General John J. Farmer, Jr. was acting governor for 90 minutes on January 8, 2002 while awaiting the swearing in of the next senate president
  • Republican Senate co-President John Bennett served as acting governor from January 8 to January 12, 2002
  • Democrat Senate co-President Richard Codey served as acting governor from January 12 to January 15, 2002. Governor Jim McGreevey was sworn in after noon on January 15, 2002.

After the resignation of Governor McGreevey in the midst of a sex scandal in 2004, Richard Codey served again as acting governor from November 15, 2004 to January 17, 2006. Codey was the only acting governor during this time as the 2003 legislative elections had returned a Democrat party majority to the State Senate. His tenure ended with the inauguration of Governor Jon Corzine on January 17, 2006.

Considerable public attention and was directed to the issue of succession in the wake of the resignations of Governor Whitman and Governor McGreevey during so brief a period. The response of the general public and the media was that the situation of acting governors and resignations made the situation untenable and that the state needed a permanent solution such as a Lieutenant Governor. There were three chief arguments in favor of establishing a Lieutenant Governor:

  • That the Senate President was chosen by the members of the Senate, not elected by voters state wide, and that as acting governor he or she would be an unelected governor—eligible for the office only by virtue of having been elected by the citizens in one of forty legislative districts statewide.
  • That an acting governor serving simultaneously in the executive branch and legislative branch made the position of Governor incredibly powerful and was a breach of the "separation of powers" between branches of the government.
  • That there potentially would be a lack of continuity between political platforms from a Governor of one party and a Senate President of another who assumes the post as acting governor. As there was no guarantee the two individuals would be members of the same party, there was greater concern that the policies of the Acting Governor might be in direct conflict with those of the preceding governor.

Referendum on a constitutional amendment

On election day November 8, 2005, New Jersey voters came out to elect their next governor and were charged with deciding a public question on the ballot whether to amend the state's constitution to create the position of Lieutenant Governor. The approval of this public question would amend the constitution and direct that the first Lieutenant Governor would be chosen in the gubernatorial election in 2009.

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

2009 Gubernatorial election

During the week before the July 27, 2009, deadline for the gubernatorial candidates to designate their running mates,[13] Republican candidate Chris Christie selected Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno,[14] while Democratic incumbent Governor Jon Corzine chose State Senator Loretta Weinberg.[15] On July 27, independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett selected as his running mate Frank J. Esposito, a Kean University history professor who once served as interim president of the university.[16]

Constitutional provisions

Qualifications

As amended on 17 January 2006, New Jersey's state constitution mandates that a person may only be eligible for the position of lieutenant governor if they meet the eligibility qualifications to serve as governors. Article V, Section I, paragraph 2, requires that a candidate for governor (and thus lieutenant governor) be (1) at least 30 years old, (2) a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and (3) a resident of New Jersey for at least seven years.[17]

Within 30 days after the conclusion of the primary election typically held on Tuesday in the first full week in June, the candidate for governor selects a running mate to join his ticket as the candidate for lieutenant governor.[18] The governor and lieutenant governor must members of the same political party, campaign on the same ticket, are elected conjointly, and serve the same term concurrently.[18]

Duties in the administration

Article V, Section I, paragraph 10 of the New Jersey State Constitution provides that the Lieutenant Governor be appointed as a head of a cabinet-level department or administrative agency within the Governor's administration, with the exception that he or she cannot be the state's Attorney General. The current Lieutenant Governor, Kim Guadagno, serves as the New Jersey's Secretary of State.

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.[19]

Gubernatorial succession

Article V, Section I, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey State Constitution, as amended, in 2005 provides for the following order of succession in the event the state Governor's office is vacant:

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.[20]

List of Lieutenant Governors

  Democratic (0)   Republican (1)

Portrait Lieutenant Governor Took office Left office Governor Party
1 "portrait of Kim Guadagno, first Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey Kim Guadagno
(b. 1959)		 January 19, 2010 present Chris Christie Republican

See also

References

  1. ^ Pomfret, John Edwin. Province of West New Jersey, 1609–1702: A History of the Origins of an American Colony. (New York: Octagon Books, 1956); Whitehead, William A. East Jersey Under the Proprietary Governments: A Narrative of Events connected with the Settlement and Progress of the Province, until the Surrender of the Government to the Crown in 1703. [sic] (Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Historical Society, 1875); and Pomfret, John E. The Province of East New Jersey, 1609–1702: The Rebellious Proprietary. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962).
  2. ^ "Surrender from the Proprietors of East and West New Jersey, of Their Pretended Right of Government to Her Majesty; 1702" from Leaming, Aaron and Spicer, Jacob. The Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey. The acts passed during the proprietary governments, and other material trnasactions before the surrender thereof to Queen Ann. [sic] The instrument of surrender, and her formal acceptance thereof, Lord Cornbury's Commission and Introduction consequent thereon. (2nd Edition. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1758) 600–618. Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Pulvis, Thomas L. Proprietors, Patronage and Paper Money: Legislative Politics in New Jersey 1703–76. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1986), passim.
  4. ^ a b c d e Stellhorn, Paul A., and Birkner, Michael J. "Richard Ingoldesby" in The Governors of New Jersey 1664–1974: Biographical Essays. (Trenton, New Jersey: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1982), 40–43.
  5. ^ Weeks, Daniel J. Not for filthy Lucre's sake: Richard Saltar and the antiproprietary movement in East New Jersey, 1665–1707. (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Lehigh University Press, 2001), passim.
  6. ^ a b Fisher, Edgar Jacob. New Jersey as a Royal Province, 1738 to 1776. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1911), 43–44.
  7. ^ Schutz, John. Thomas Pownall, British Defender of American Liberty; a Study of Anglo-American Relations in the Eighteenth Century. (Glendale, California: A. H. Clark, 1951), 55–58, 78–87.
  8. ^ McCormick, Richard P. (1964, 1970). New Jersey from Colony to State, 1609–1789. (1st Ed – Princeton: Van Nostrand, 1964; 2nd Ed. — New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1970).
  9. ^ If the acting governorship filled by the State Senate President were vacated, he or she would be succeeded by the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, the state legislature's lower chamber.
  10. ^ New Jersey State Constitution (1776), article 7.
  11. ^ New Jersey State Constitution (1844), Article V, Section 12
  12. ^ New Jersey State Constitution (1947), the original text for Article V, Section 1, Paragraph 6 (before amendment effective January 17, 2006).
  13. ^ http://www.politickernj.com/max/31580/elec-certifies-daggett-matching-funds
  14. ^ Stile, Charles. "Christie announces lieutenant governor pick", The Record (Bergen County), July 20, 2009. Accessed July 21, 2009.
  15. ^ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/corzine_picks_sen_loretta_wein.html
  16. ^ http://www.politickernj.com/editor/31794/daggett-picks-kean-university-administrator-lg
  17. ^ New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 2 (as amended, effective January 17, 2006). The amendment to this constitutional provision added the content regarding the eligibility of a person to be Lieutenant Governor. The qualifications for governor enumerated herewith have been unaltered since the 1947 constitution was enacted.
  18. ^ a b New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 4.
  19. ^ New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 10 (as amended, effective January 17, 2006)
  20. ^ New Jersey State Constitution (1947), Article V, Section I, paragraph 6 (as amended, effective January 17, 2006)
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