Governor Jim Florio

JIM FLORIO was born in Brooklyn, New York. He served in the U.S. Navy 1955-1958 and remainded in the Naval Reserves until 1975, retiring with the rank of lieutenant commander. He graduated from Trenton State College magna cum laude with a degree in social studies 1962. He won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to Columbia University and studied public law and government. He earned his law degree in 1967 from Rutgers University Law School in Camden. He held an elected position at the New Jersey Assembly 1969-1971. He was elected in 1974 to the U.S. House of Representatives and was reelected seven times. He served as chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness of the Energy and Commerce Committee and as chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests of the Select Committee on Aging. He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1989.