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N.J. governor comes out, will resign November 15 (13388)

13388News2004-08-13

N.J. governor comes out, will resign November 15

N.J. governor:
"I am a gay American"

New Jersey governor James McGreevey acknowledged Thursday that he's gay, confessed to having an affair with a man, and announced that he will resign from office, one year before his term ends. Click here to read his complete remarks.

New Jersey governor James E. McGreevey confirmed on Thursday that he is gay, has had an extramarital affair with another man, and will resign from office on November 15, one year before his term ends.

"My truth is that I am a gay American," McGreevey said. "Shamefully, I engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony," said the married father of two daughters by two wives. His first marriage ended in divorce.

"I have decided the right course of action is to resign," McGreevey said. Although his coming out publicly is a moment that he wished would pass, he said, "it cannot and should not pass.

"This is an intensely personal decision and not one typically for the public domain," McGreevey said.

Rumors had been circulating for several years that McGreevey was gay, reaching the level of open hints on New Jersey talk-radio shows. The man involved in the affair, a former government employee, demanded "an exorbitant sum of money to make it go away," a high-ranking administration official told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. Cabinet members and administration officials learned of that threat Wednesday night, the source said.

ABC News is reporting that the timing of McGreevey's announcement was determined by a lawsuit being filed today by Golan Cipel, a former adviser to the governor on homeland security. The lawsuit will reportedly allege sexual misconduct by the governor.

A former Israeli sailor and a published poet, Cipel also worked as a spokesman for the Israeli Consulate in New York. He was originally hired as McGreevey's lead security adviser in February 2002. He resigned a month later after questions were raised about his background but was kept on the government payroll at $110,000 a year. For months the administration refused to say what Cipel did for the state. He was seldom seen in public and was often the topic of intrigue among the media.

The Advocate will continue to update this story as details become available.

McGreevey, 47, the state's 51st governor, took office 2-1/2 years ago, and despite inheriting a $5 billion budget deficit, he steadfastly refused to boost income taxes for most New Jerseyans, instead raising taxes on millionaires, casinos, and cigarettes. But he has been dogged by several scandals involving fund-raising.

McGreevey, a Democrat, rose from suburban mayor to state chief executive by his tenacious pursuit of party politics, maintaining a power base after he narrowly lost to Republican Christie Whitman in 1997. McGreevey never truly stopped that campaign until he won in November 2001, beating Republican Bret Schundler by 15 percentage points.

Born in Jersey City, McGreevey graduated from Columbia University in 1978. He earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1981 and a master's degree in education from Harvard University a year later. After briefly serving as a county prosecutor, McGreevey became a lobbyist for a pharmaceutical company, then a state government official. While in the legislature, McGreevey voted for Gov. Jim Florio's $2.8 billion tax hike, which prompted a voter rebellion against Democrats.

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