http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_M._Sweeney
He's part of the Norcross faction.
Until recently, we did not have a Lt Gov. The Senate President became governor whenever the Governor was incapacitated. Richard Codey served as Acting Governor twice. In retrospect, he would probably have been a better choice than Corzine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Codey
Acting gubernatorial service 2002
Following Governor Christine Todd Whitman's resignation the previous year to become head of the EPA, Codey was one of three different Senate Presidents (along with Donald DiFrancesco and John O. Bennett, along with Attorney General John Farmer) to serve as Acting Governor for the one-year period between Whitman's resignation and Jim McGreevey's inauguration. DiFrancesco served as acting governor for all but the last week of this period, until his term as senate president ended. Farmer, Bennett and Codey then divided the last week of the term among them, with Codey serving for three days, from January 12, 2002, to January 15, 2002, leading to a situation in which the state had five different people serving as governor during a period of eight days.[7]
Gubernatorial service 2004–2006
Codey became Acting Governor again with the resignation of Jim McGreevey on November 15, 2004. According to the New Jersey State Constitution at the time, in the event of a vacancy in the Governor's office, the President of the State Senate takes on the additional position of Acting Governor until the next gubernatorial election. After taking over in 2004 Codey became popular with many New Jersey residents and reportedly considered a run for a full four-year term. However, U.S. Senator Jon Corzine's large number of endorsements as well as his large campaign war chest, funded primarily by his great personal wealth, convinced Codey to announce officially on January 31, 2005 that he would step aside. Codey served as Governor until Corzine was sworn in on January 17, 2006 following Corzine's victory in the November 8, 2005 elections. Some had speculated that Codey could be a possible candidate for Corzine's vacant seat in the United States Senate, with Corzine appointing his own successor once he was sworn in as Governor. However, Codey announced on November 23, 2005 that he was not interested in the Senate seat.
With the passage on November 8, 2005, of a constitutional amendment creating the position of Lieutenant Governor, Codey became the last person to serve simultaneously as Governor and Senate President.
= new reply since forum marked as read