Jim McGreevey

James Edward "Jim" McGreevey (born 1957 August 6) is an American Democratic politician. He served as the 52nd Governor of New Jersey from 2002 January 15, until 2004 November 15, when he left office three months after admitting that he had had an extramarital affair with a male employee. Upon publicly revealing his homosexuality on 2004 August 12, McGreevey became the first and, to date, the only openly gay state governor in United States history.

Career

McGreevey was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, grew up in nearby Carteret, and attended St. Joseph High School in Metuchen. He attended The Catholic University of America before graduating from Columbia University in 1978. He later earned a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1981 and a master's degree in education from Harvard University in 1982. He also attended a diploma program in law at the London School of Economics.

McGreevey was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1990 to 1992, when he became Mayor of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. He was re-elected mayor in 1995 and 1999. He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1993, simultaneously serving as mayor during the four-year Senate term. He first ran for governor in 1997, but was defeated in a close race (47%-46%) by the incumbent Republican, Christine Todd Whitman, with Libertarian candidate Murray Sabrin taking slightly over 5% of the vote. McGreevey ran for the governorship again in 2001 and won with 56% of the vote -- the first majority elected governor since James Florio. His Republican opponent in that race was Bret Schundler, who began to campaign after Donald DiFrancesco dropped out of the race due to allegations of corruption. His other political party opponents were Jerry Coleman - Green, Mark Edgerton - Libertarian, Michael Koontz - Conservative, Costantino Rozzo - Socialist and Kari Sachs - Socialist Workers.

After being elected to the governorship on his second try (on 2001 November 6), McGreevey inherited a $5 billion budget deficit. During his term, McGreevey fought tax increases for most residents of the state, although he did eventually raise the tax on cigarettes and increased the state tax rate for the higher incomes.

McGreevey, who is of Irish descent, was raised as a Roman Catholic in a socially conservative household. Due to his pro-choice stance on abortion, he stated as governor that he would not receive Communion at public church services. This decision came after a request by Archbishop John J. Myers of the Archdiocese of Newark for pro-choice supporters to not seek communion when they attended mass. McGreevey is committed to the separation of church and state, having said that he believes "it's a false choice in America between one's faith and constitutional obligation." McGreevey implemented a stem cell research plan for New Jersey, and heavily lobbied for the state's first domestic partnership law for same-sex couples, which he signed into law in early 2004. Because he remarried without an annulment from his first marriage, Bishop Joseph A. Galante of the Diocese of Camden said that he would refuse communion to McGreevey if he attended his installation as bishop. Bishop John M. Smith of the Diocese of Trenton also cautioned the faithful of his diocese that McGreevey was not a "devout Catholic" as the governor had once stated.

Decision to resign

McGreevey's term was mired in controversy, from questions about the credentials of several of his appointments to Pay to Play and extortion scandals involving many of his backers and key New Jersey Democratic fundraisers. Moreover, after only eight months in office, his homeland security advisor Golan Cipel resigned from his post amid persistent complaints about his lack of qualifying experience for the position. In the assessments of most observers, Cipel lacked the relevant prior experience that would warrant such an appointment. He also could not gain a security clearance from the federal government, given that he was not a U.S. citizen, but rather an Israeli citizen whom McGreevey met during a trip to Israel in 2000.

According to McGreevey in his book The Confession (ISBN 0-06-089862-3) published in 2006, the The Record was the first newspaper to break the news of a relationship between McGreevey and Cipel that was to lead to McGreevey's resignation. McGreevey brought up Cipel's name six weeks into his administration in a 2002 February 14, interview with The Record's editorial board at its offices saying:

"We will not skimp on security. We actually brought on a security advisor from the Israel Defense Forces, probably the best in the world."

The interview prompted news investigation into Cipel's background and, on February 21, The Record published a profile of Cipel, calling him a "sailor" and a "poet". The article said:

Democrats close to the administration say McGreevey and Cipel have struck up a close friendship and frequently travel together.

The article prompted McGreevey's own mother to ask him if he was gay and stirred various media organizations to send reporters to Israel to ask questions about Cipel and his background and childhood friends.

In August 2002, Cipel resigned at McGreevey's request and then asked for his job back.

On 2004 August 12, faced with threats from Cipel's lawyer Allen Lowy that Cipel would file a sexual harassment suit against him in Mercer County Court (McGreevey in his book says Lowy told him "...although we think we will get $50 million, we'll take five"), McGreevey announced at a press conference: "My truth is that I am a gay American." He also said that he "engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man" (whom his aides immediately named as Cipel), and that he would resign effective 2004 November 15. Even though McGreevey's sexual orientation had been speculated about in New Jersey political circles and questions about the nature of his relationship with Cipel had been alluded to in the media even before August 2004, McGreevey's announcement made him the first openly gay state governor in American history. The Star-Ledger won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its "coverage of the resignation of New Jersey’s governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover".

The timing of McGreevey's announcement enabled him to be the first to present news of the upcoming lawsuit to the media, and the decision to delay the effective date of his resignation until after 2004 September 3 avoided a special election in November to replace the governor. Doing so allowed the Democratic Party to retain control of the governor's office for at least another year, and avoided the prospect of a Republican candidate for governor running in tandem with George W. Bush, which could have helped Bush capture New Jersey's electoral votes. (Bush did not win New Jersey's electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election, but captured 46% of the statewide vote, compared to 40% in the 2000 race.)

Almost immediately after McGreevey's announcement, Republicans and others in New Jersey called upon the governor not to wait until November to resign and instead to do so at once. An editorial in the New York Times read, "Mr. McGreevey's strategy [to delay resignation] doesn't serve New Jersey residents well. The state will be led by an embattled governor mired in personal and legal problems for three months." An online petition paid for by the "Scott Garrett for Congress" campaign was claimed to have drawn 10,000 signatures by Garrett's campaign manager on 2004 August 27, although it wasn't clear how many of the signatures were those of New Jersey residents.

On September 15, U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr. dismissed Afran v. McGreevey, filed by Green Party lawyers Bruce Afran and Carl Mayers, dismissing their claim that the postponement of McGreevey's resignation had left a vacancy, thereby violating New Jersey residents voting rights. Brown stated that McGreevey "clearly intends to hold office until 2004 November 15. The requirement of holding a special election does not arise. The rights of registered voters are not being violated." Afran re-filed the same suit in Mercer County Superior Court and Judge Linda R. Feinberg heard arguments on 2004 October 4.

Fellow Democrat and New Jersey Senate President Richard Codey took office upon McGreevey's resignation and served the remainder of the term until 2006 January 17. At the time of McGreevey's resignation, the New Jersey State Constitution stipulated that the Senate president retains that position while serving as acting governor.

Personal life

McGreevey has one daughter, Morag, from his first marriage (to Canadian Kari Schutz), which ended in divorce, and another daughter, Jacqueline, from his second marriage (to Dina Matos), from whom McGreevey is now separated. McGreevey and Matos are in the process of divorcing. On 2007-03-14, the Associated Press reported that McGreevey was seeking custody of Jacqueline from Dina Matos, and filing for child support.[1]

In his memoir The Confession, McGreevey describes the duality of his personal life before he came out as gay: "As glorious and meaningful as it would have been to have a loving and sound sexual experience with another man, I knew I'd have to undo my happiness step by step as I began chasing my dream of a public career and the kind of 'acceptable' life that went with it. So, instead, I settled for the detached anonymity of bookstores and rest stops — a compromise, but one that was wholly unfulfilling and morally unsatisfactory."

McGreevey has been dating an Australian-American executive, Mark O'Donnell, since late 2005. The two live in Plainfield, New Jersey.

McGreevey and O'Donnell regularly attend Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church.

Trivia

• In 2005, television writer Dena Higley cited McGreevey's story as inspiration for her storyline on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, in which District Attorney Daniel Colson (Mark Dobies) murders Paul Cramer (David Tom) and Jennifer Rappaport (Jessica Morris), and marries Nora Buchanan (Hillary Bailey Smith), to hide his homosexuality and advance his political career.
• McGreevey wrote a memoir, with assistance from ghostwriter David France, entitled The Confession, which was published by ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins, in mid-September 2006. McGreevey appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 19 to discuss and promote the book. It is the start of a two month promotion of his memoir.
• After Donald DiFrancesco's title was elevated from acting governor to governor retroactively in 2006, McGreevey became New Jersey's 52nd governor instead of the 51st.
• McGreevey has been a constant target of derision by conservative talk radio and CNN Headline News personality Glenn Beck.
• On 2006 September 28 McGreevey appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his new book, The Confession. He also appeared on the radio show Elliot In The Morning on DC 101 in Rockville, Maryland.

External links

• Authenticated Text and Audio of McGreevey's Resignation Address
• Text of McGreevey's Resignation Speech
• A year after coming out, McGreevey still trying to find his niche, August 2005 article
• Two years after declaration, McGreevey finds stride as "gay American", Associated Press article from August 2006
• McGreevey discusses his book, The Confession at the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center, New York Times' Times Talks Series, ForaTV, 2006 October 14 (Video)
• Video of speech at cornerstone laying ceremony for the Freedom Tower on 2004 July 4

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: McGreevey Jim McGreevey

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