John Farmer Jr.
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John Farmer Jr. (b. 1957) is a politician, who served as Acting Governor of New Jersey for 90 minutes on January 8, 2002 by virtue of his status as New Jersey Attorney General.
New Jersey did not have the position of lieutenant governor at the time, and succession rules specified that the next in line for Governor of New Jersey would be the Senate President. With Donald DiFrancesco's retirement from the New Jersey Senate, the position of Senate President was vacant, leaving the Attorney General next in line for the seat while the new Senate President, John O. Bennett was sworn in.
Farmer served as Attorney General for Christine Todd Whitman and Donald DiFrancesco. He has said that he focused on his work as Attorney General during his stint as Governor. It could be said (facetiously) that Farmer was the most powerful New Jersey Governor ever, as he served as both New Jersey Attorney General and Acting Governor at the same time.
Prior to his appointment as attorney general, he served as chief counsel for Governor Whitman. He came to that position following a stint as an Assistant United States Attorney in the New Jersey office.
Farmer subsequently served as Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission (officially known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States) chaired by former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean and former Indiana Congressman Lee H. Hamilton.
Currently, Farmer is practicing law in New Jersey as a partner in a North Jersey firm. He also teaches law as an adjunct professor at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, and is a regular contributing writer to The Star-Ledger (of Newark) and other publications.
| Preceded by Peter Verniero |
New Jersey Attorney General 1999-2002 |
Succeeded by David Samson |
| Preceded by Governor Donald DiFrancesco |
Acting Governor of New Jersey 2002 |
Succeeded by Acting Governor John Bennett |
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| Attorneys General of New Jersey (Since 1947 State Constitution) |  |
|---|---|
| Parsons • Richman • Furman • Sills • Kugler • Hyland • Degnan • Zazzali • Kimmelman • Edwards • Perretti • Del Tufo • Poritz • Verniero • Farmer • Samson • Harvey • Farber • Rabner |
