John J. Farmer, Jr.
| John Farmer Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
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Governor of New Jersey Acting |
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In office January 8, 2002 |
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| Preceded by |
Donald DiFrancesco as Governor |
| Succeeded by |
John O. Bennett as Acting Governor |
| 52nd Attorney General of New Jersey | |
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In office 1999–2002 |
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| Governor |
Christine Todd Whitman Donald DiFrancesco |
| Preceded by | Peter Verniero |
| Succeeded by | David Samson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 24, 1957 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
John J. Farmer Jr. (born June 24, 1957) is an American author, lawyer, politician and jurist. He is Special Counsel to the President of Rutgers University, and was formerly Dean of Rutgers School of Law–Newark. He served as Acting Governor of New Jersey for 90 minutes on January 8, 2002, by virtue of his status as New Jersey Attorney General.
Farmer was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1957. He attended Georgetown University receiving a B.A. degree in 1979 and a J.D. degree in 1986. After law school he worked as a clerk for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Alan B. Handler. From 1988 to 1990, he was an associate in the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti in Morristown. From 1990 to 1994 he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
In 1997, Governor Christine Todd Whitman appointed Farmer as Chief Counsel, after having served as Deputy Chief Counsel and Assistant Counsel to the Governor.
Farmer was nominated to be New Jersey Attorney General on March 15, 1999, and was sworn in the following June after being confirmed unanimously by the New Jersey Senate. He continued to serve under Donald DiFrancesco after Whitman's resignation.
Farmer served as Acting Governor for 90 minutes. Following Governor Christine Todd Whitman's resignation the previous year to become head of the EPA, Farmer was one of four people to serve as acting governor for the one-year period between Whitman's resignation and Jim McGreevey's inauguration, along with three different senate presidents (Donald DiFrancesco, John O. Bennett, and Richard Codey). DiFrancesco served as acting governor for all but the last week of this period, until his term as senate president ended on January 8, 2002. At the end of DiFrancesco's tenure as Governor of New Jersey, the state did not have the position of lieutenant governor, and succession rules specified that the next in line for governor after the Senate President would be the Attorney General -- Farmer -- until the next Senate President could be sworn in. Bennett and Codey, the Senate Co-Presidents, then divided the last week of the term among them as Governor, with Bennett serving from January 8, 2002 to January 12, 2002; and Codey serving from January 12, 2002, to January 15, 2002. As a result, the state had five different people serving as governor during a period of eight days.
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