Morgan Larson

In January, Jon Corzine will become New Jersey's sixth living former elected Governor.  That's the most since Robert Meyner became Governor in January 1954, with former Governors Walter Edge, James Fielder, Morgan Larson, Harold Hoffman, Charles Edison, and Alfred Driscoll still alive. 

New Jersey has elected different governors in each of the last four elections, and six different governors over the last seven elections.  New Jersey Democrats have not re-elected a governor since 1977, and the only Democrats to win re-election since then were Bill Bradley (in 1984 and 1990), and Frank Lautenberg (in 1988, 1994 and 2008). 

In addition to Brendan Byrne, Thomas Kean, James Florio, Christine Todd Whitman, and James E. McGreevey, there are two unelected former governors still living: Donald DiFrancesco and Richard Codey.

The New Jersey Legislature is often the breeding ground for gubernatorial candidates, but by 2009 it will have been 81 years since a sitting state legislator has been elected Governor -- the last time was in 1928, when Morgan Larson, a Republican State Senator from Middlesex County, won.

Over the last fifty years, only four incumbent legislators -- State Senators Malcom Forbes (1957), Wayne Dumont (1965), Raymond Bateman (1977) and James E. McGreevey (1997) -- have won gubernatorial primaries, and all four have lost their general elections.

The New Jersey Legislature is often the breeding ground for gubernatorial candidates, but by 2009 it will have been 81 years since a sitting state legislator has been elected Governor -- the last time was in 1928, when Morgan Larson, a Republican State Senator from Middlesex County, won.

Over the last fifty years, only four incumbent legislators -- State Senators Malcom Forbes (1957), Wayne Dumont (1965), Raymond Bateman (1977) and James E. McGreevey (1997) -- have won gubernatorial primaries, and all four have lost their general elections.