THE POLITICS

Gov. James E. McGreevey's decision to time his resignation to take effect in mid-November keeps the governor's office in Democratic hands at least until January 2006 and gives extraordinary power to his successor, Senate President Richard Codey.

Had McGreevey resigned immediately, the state constitution would have required that his successor be elected during the general election Nov. 2 and take office as soon as his victory was certified.

"That would be a free-for-all," said Robert Williams, a professor at Rutgers School of Law in Camden, who wrote a definitive guide to the New Jersey Constitution.

The Democratic and Republican state committees would have selected candidates for their parties, but any eligible candidate able to garner 800 signatures on a nominating petition could have run as an independent.

McGreevey avoided that scenario by having his resignation take effect Nov. 15. Under the constitution, when a vacancy occurs that close to a scheduled gubernatorial election, the Senate president takes on the governor's powers for the remainder of his term.

That means Codey, a Democrat from Essex County, will simultaneously hold the two most powerful offices in state government until early 2006, unless for some reason he ceases to be Senate president.

Republicans called on McGreevey to step down immediately and allow the voters to pick his successor this November.

"We do feel the governor should resign effective immediately and his ability to govern has been compromised," said Tim White, political director for the Republican State Committee.

Micah Rasmussen, McGreevey's press secretary, said the Nov. 15 date was picked because "90 days allows for an orderly transition."

Asked whether McGreevey would continue to exercise his powers as governor for the next three months, Rasmussen replied: "He expects to spend time with his family over the weekend. He'll be back at work next week."

Williams, the Rutgers law professor, said McGreevey can still carry out routine duties to "keep the government running," but has lost the political ability to get lawmakers to pass "new initiatives."

"He's certainly compromised, no question about that," Williams said. But he said McGreevey's decision to delay the effective date of his resignation until mid-November likely would be respected by the courts.

New Jersey law provides that resignations from state office are only valid if they are filed, in writing, with the secretary of state, which McGreevey has yet to do.

It is doubtful whether McGreevey's decision to delay the effective date of his resignation could be challenged as a ruse to avoid an election this fall. One similar lawsuit failed.

When former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski got caught by a federal corruption probe, he announced his resignation would not take effect until after the deadline for choosing his successor at the next general election had passed. Republicans went to court, arguing that the election should be held because Janiszewski had stopped performing his duties before the deadline, said Peter Sheridan, counsel to the Republican State Committee. He said a judge ruled it was the effective date of the resignation that mattered, so Democrats were able to hand-pick Janiszewski's successor and put off an election for a year.

With no election to replace McGreevey this fall, Codey is in line to become acting governor until the expiration of McGreevey's term on the third Tuesday in January 2006. The governor who takes office then will be chosen at the general election of November 2005, when McGreevey would have been up for re-election.

Technically, Codey will not become governor and will not have that title. Rather, in his role as Senate president, which he will continue to hold, he will inherit all the powers and privileges of being governor. They include a State Police security detail and the right to live in Drumthwacket, the governor's official residence in Princeton, and use of the governor's beach house.

He also will exercise all of the powers of governor - such as making appointments to judgeships and state offices - while simultaneously presiding over the Senate. It is a quirk of New Jersey constitutional law that concentrates extraordinary power in one individual.

As Senate president, Codey will be able to introduce a bill and decide which committee hears it and whether the full Senate votes on it. As acting governor, Codey can send that bill back to the Legislature with proposed changes, sign the revised version and instruct his Cabinet how to enforce it.

"You're going to have far more power than an elected governor, which doesn't make any sense," said Michael Ticktin, a lawyer and the author of a 1998 article in Rutgers Law Journal that criticized the current arrangement.

"It's this horse-and-buggy mechanism that we've had since the 1840s. Government was simpler in those days," Williams said.

Ticktin explained that there is a check on Codey's power: He can lose his position as Senate president, and the acting governorship with it, any time a majority of the Senate votes to replace him.

The same situation arose in January 2001, when Gov. Christie Whitman resigned to become administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Senate President Donald DiFrancesco continued to lead the Senate while also assuming the powers of the governor. He served as acting governor until the expiration of Whitman's term in January 2002, when McGreevey took office.

DiFrancesco's year as acting governor marked the first time in New Jersey history that so much power was concentrated in one individual. With that situation repeating itself, Frank Askin, founder of the constitutional litigation clinic at Rutgers School of Law in Newark, said it is time for the state to consider a change.

"We ought to have a lieutenant governor," Askin said. "It makes no sense the way we operate now."