Longtime New Jersey legislator and former acting governor Richard “Dick” Codey has died. That's according to his wife, Mary Jo Codey. Codey's family wrote Sunday that he had died peacefully surrounded by family following a brief illness. Richard Codey was first elected to the state Assembly in 1974, moving to the Senate in 1982 and serving there until 2010. The Democrat was active on multiple issues, including stem cell research funding and mental health care. He spent 8 years as Senate president and filled in three times as New Jersey’s acting governor. He was 79.
