When Phil Murphy is out of state, here is the line of succession for acting governor

With the death of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver on Tuesday, New Jersey's line of succession has a gap.

Still, unlike in some states, the line is considerably long.

What is NJ's line of succession?

After the governor and the newly vacant post of lieutenant governor comes the president of the state Senate. Nicholas Scutari, the current Senate president, has been acting governor with Gov. Phil Murphy out of the country on vacation and Oliver hospitalized before her sudden death.

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Following the Senate president in the line of succession comes the speaker of the state's General Assembly, currently Craig Coughlin. After that is the attorney general, currently Matthew J. Platkin. And last is the state's transportation commissioner, currently Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti.

An unusual NJ acting governor

In recent history, the line of succession has seen the attorney general act as governor only once and only for about 90 minutes. That occurred in January 2002, when John Farmer was attorney general. His brief stint in the governor's chair occurred after the resignation of Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and while the Senate was briefly without a president. There was no lieutenant governor post at that time.

The post of lieutenant governor was approved by voters in 2006 and took effect in the 2009 election, with Kim Guadagno elected to serve as lieutenant governor to Chris Christie.

The line of succession as it stands is defined by Article V of the New Jersey Constitution, last amended in 2006, and a 2019 state statute.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: When Gov. Phil Murphy is away, here is New Jersey's line of succession