The former New Jersey governor Brendan Byrne likes to quip that when he dies, he wants to be buried in Jersey City so he remain “active in Hudson County Democratic politics.”

As it happens, it took until last Friday to resolve the Jersey City special mayoral election (made necessary by the death in office of Mayor Glenn Cunningham). As the new mayor, city councilor Jeremiah Healy, celebrated his victory, he was surrounded not only by Hudson County cronies and colleagues but by the new faces dominating New Jersey Democratic politics: Senator Corzine was there, a relative newcomer made over into a veteran by the departure under fire of Senator Torricelli, and the state senate president, Richard Codey.

You’re going to be hearing a lot about Mr. Codey because, starting at midnight, he takes over as governor, to fill out the remaining 11-plus months still left until the regularly scheduled gubernatorial election next fall.

The vacancy opened up after Governor McGreevey announced his resignation from the office he had coveted for so long while acknowledging to being “a gay American” and having had an extramarital affair with a gay man. That man is widely thought to be an Israeli national named Golan Cipel, who had worked for the McGreevey campaign and then had been appointed to a high-profile and high-paying job in the administration as adviser on homeland security. With this appointment coming less than half a year after the September 11 attacks, Mr. McGreevey signed his political death warrant. Not only was he having a gay affair (if you believe the governor’s version of events, which I do), which would be, from an electoral viewpoint, risky enough. He also appointed his alleged lover to a sensitive post for which he lacked sufficient credentials.

Mr. McGreevey delayed his resignation until tonight at midnight in order to eliminate the possibility for a special election.

This way, Mr. Codey takes over and the Democrats are spared a bloody primary fight over the spoils. That fight may come anyway, but in a primary next spring. That gives Mr. Codey an opportunity to put together a list of achievements long enough to transform him from a regional player with some statewide recognition into a dominant force as an incumbent.

Mr. Corzine, who is said to be contemplating a run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, has been told by Mr. Codey that he may not be willing to roll over, even for the multimillionaire Corzine.

“Even as a kid, I didn’t like to see a bully go after someone,” Mr. Codey said after Mr. Corzine visited him in his West Orange home. “I don’t pick fights. But I don’t back down.”

Mr. Codey is a veteran of state politics who has been president of the state senate, a post he will keep while also serving as governor. This means he will enjoy unparalleled power within the state, at least until the primaries take shape in the early spring.

Mr. Codey’s base is in suburban Essex County. Essex is the county that turns out the largest majorities for Democrats in statewide elections, overcoming Republican advantages in the southern and western parts of the state.

Essex Democrats are split along peculiar lines, with Mr. Codey heading an Irish-led coalition against an rival faction led by Italian Americans grouped around Steve Adabato Sr., father of the television personality.

Mr. Adabato is based in the north ward of Newark, where he controls patronage and wheels and deals from his office at a community center. Two years ago, his candidate bested a Codey ally for county executive.

Now the wheel has turned and it is Mr. Codey’s turn. A longtime power in the state Senate, he is dealmaker and a pragmatist. He wants to save the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which is losing the Nets, who will eventually abandon Continental Arena for Brooklyn, and the Devils, moving to a Newark arena. This reverses Mr. McGreevey’s policy favoring the pro-Newark faction at the expense of the Meadowlands, a sign of his political debts to Mr. Adabato and the Newark mayor, Sharpe James.

But Mr. Codey faces a daunting challenge in the form of a mounting state debt. During Mr. McGreevey’s tenure, the state added over $12 billion in new debt. Needless to say, there is huge budget shortfall. Mr. McGreevey proposed new taxes on the wealthy, but Mr. Codey will try and avoid levying a wider new tax. The last Democratic governor to raise taxes widely, Jim Florio, was thrown out after one term by the then relatively unknown Christine Todd Whitman.

Mr. Corzine is reeling from a setback in the November 2 election when Senate Democrats lost seats. It was Mr. Corzine’s assignment to help raise enough cash to increase the number of Senate Democrats. With their status as Senate minority and opposition confirmed by voters, Mr. Corzine will not be the first, or the last, sitting Democrat to jump at a chance to become governor.

As the Democrats sort things out, Republicans are scrambling to keep up. Their state party chair, Joseph Kyrillos Jr., a Monmouth County state senator who’s led the GOP since early 2001, is stepping down as chair. Mr. Kyrillos is close to moderate circles within the GOP which last ruled the roost during the years when Ms. Whitman served as governor.

That roost is now contested by conservatives of various stripes, some of whom are arguing that Mr. Bush’s strong showing came despite his social conservatism. Senator Kerry carried the state and did better than Vice President Gore four years ago, receiving 15,113 more votes than Mr. Gore. President Bush increased his total votes by 308,381 over 2000. In percentage terms, Mr. Bush lost by 6%, down from a 16% loss in 2000, representing Mr. Bush’s best increase in the nation.

Mr. Twersky is a contributing editor of The New York Sun.