[2] The position itself does not carry any powers or duties other than to be next in the order of succession, but the state constitution requires that the lieutenant governor also be appointed to serve as the head of a cabinet-level department or administrative agency within the governor's administration, other than the position of Attorney General.

For most of the state's (and previously the colony's) history, a vacancy in the position of governor was filled by the president of the State Senate (called the "Legislative Council" from 1776 to 1844), or during the colonial era by the president of the royal governor's Provincial Council.

Guadagno, previously the sheriff in Monmouth County, was chosen by Governor Chris Christie to be his running mate on the Republican Party ticket in the 2009 election.

[3] Further, the state constitution does not provide for elections for state-wide cabinet-level positions—it grants the governor the power to appoint the "principal department heads" for the executive branch.

[4] For these reasons, New Jersey's governor was considered the most powerful elected chief executive in the United States.

[12] In 1986, Governor Thomas Kean proposed the creation of the office in a move seen at the time as a political maneuver "apparently to preclude the possibility of a Democratic successor".

In 2001, Governor Christine Todd Whitman resigned after being appointed by George W. Bush to the position of administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

[22] Codey was the only acting governor during this time, as the 2003 legislative elections had given the Democrats outright control of the state senate.

[24] Public attention was directed to the issue of succession in the wake of the resignations of Whitman and McGreevey during so brief a period.

In accordance with the state constitution, this proposal was put before the voters as a public question on the ballot for the general election held on November 8, 2005.

[32][better source needed] Reflecting the procedure as outlined above, as Jon Corzine, Codey's successor as governor, attended the swearing in of Bob Menendez as a U.S.

Codey also served as acting governor once again between April 12 and May 7, 2007 as Corzine recovered from serious injuries suffered in a car accident.

[36] By enacting this bill, New Jersey's gubernatorial candidates had an extra three and a half weeks to announce their selection of a lieutenant governor running mate.

The incumbent, Democratic nominee Governor Jon Corzine, chose State Senator Loretta Weinberg.

[42] His Republican challenger, Chris Christie, a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, selected Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno.

[43] Independent candidate Chris Daggett selected Frank J. Esposito, a history professor and former administrator at Kean University.

[citation needed] In 2017, after winning the Republican primary for governor, Guadagno chose Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo as her running mate.

[citation needed] Phil Murphy, winner of the Democratic primary for governor, selected Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver for the second spot on his ticket.

[62] Although Lord Cornbury was frequently absent from New Jersey and focused most of his efforts in New York, he refused to permit Ingoldesby any authority to govern.

[64] Pownall had little responsibility beyond anticipating the death of the aging governor who for most of his tenure was in declining health from a progressive paralytic disorder.

[65] In 1756, Pownall journeyed to England, where he was offered the governorship of Pennsylvania, which was retracted after he made demands for wide-ranging powers.

While in England, Pownall advised the government organized by Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, and his close foreign affairs advisor William Pitt on the state of affairs in the colonies during the Seven Years' War (called the French and Indian War in North America).

[65] Because the insights and first-hand knowledge he shared had impressed his superiors in Britain, Pownall was commissioned as Royal Governor of Massachusetts in March 1757.