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 served in the New Jersey Senate from 1982 to 2024 and as the President of the Senate from 2002 to 2010. He represented the 27th Legislative District, which covered the western portions of Essex County and the southeastern portion of Morris County.<!--BEFORE MODIFYING THE NUMBER OF TIMES CODEY HAS SERVED AS ACTING GOVERNOR, NOTE THE FOLLOWING: The above sentence lists only situations where Codey became acting governor due to a permanent gubernatorial vacancy, not when a sitting governor is out of state or temporarily unable to perform their duties as governor. For example, Richard Codey became acting governor on April 12, 2007, but would NOT be listed as another stint as acting governor unless Corzine were to have permanently left office. --> Wikipedia