Gov. McGreevey announces resignation after telling of affair
(CNN) -- Dropping a political bombshell, New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday after revealing that he is gay and that he carried on an adulterous affair with a man.
Speaking at a packed press conference in the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey, McGreevey admitted to an affair with a man and asked for his family's forgiveness.
"It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable," he said.And McGreevey said he was stepping down from the state's highest office.
McGreevey said his affair and sexuality -- "if kept secret" -- would leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure."
McGreevey, a first-term Democrat, took office in January 2002. His term wasn't due to expire until January 2006.
Senate President Richard Codey, another Democrat, will replace McGreevey as the state's chief executive; the state has no lieutenant governor's office.
A Quinnipiac University poll released August 4 showed McGreevey's approval among state voters fell sharply after two Democratic fund-raisers were indicted on federal charges in July -- one of them accused of lining up prostitutes to discredit a witness in a tax fraud investigation, the other accused of extortion.
McGreevey and his wife, Dina, have a 2-year-old daughter, and he has another daughter from a previous marriage
Source
Bookmarks