New Jersey governor quits, comes out as gay
McGreevey announces resignation after telling of affair
 |  New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey |
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 New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey resigns, citing an extramarital homosexual affair.
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(CNN) -- Dropping a political bombshell, New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday after revealing that he is gay and that he had an adulterous affair with a man.
With his wife standing quietly by his side, McGreevey -- a father of two -- spoke in calm tones as he described his struggle with his sexuality, "a certain sense that separated me from others." It was something that he said began as a child.
"At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is," McGreevey, a Democrat, said.
"And so, my truth is that I am a gay American," McGreevey said.
Speaking at a packed news 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.
'"Given the circumstances surrounding the affair and its likely impact upon my family and my ability to govern, I have decided the right course of action is to resign," McGreevey said.
His resignation will take effect November 15, and State Senate President Richard Codey, a fellow Democrat, will serve the the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2006.
If McGreevey's resignation had taken effect before September 15, state law would have required a special gubernatorial election on November 2.
McGreevey said his affair and sexuality -- "if kept secret" -- would leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure."
The Associated Press reported that 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 wire service. Cabinet members and administration officials learned of that threat Wednesday night, the source said.
Rumors, the AP reported, had been circulating for several years that McGreevey was gay, reaching the level of open hints on New Jersey talk radio shows.
Even as he acknowledged his sexuality, McGreevey spoke of the "suffering and anguish" he had brought to his family and friends, saying he would "almost rather have this moment pass.
"For this is an intensely personal decision and not one typically for the public domain," McGreevey said of his revelation. "Yet, it cannot and should not pass."
Once considered a rising star in Democratic circles, McGreevey, 47, served in the state Legislature and as mayor of the town of Woodbridge, New Jersey, before winning the governorship.
McGreevey won the seat in 2001 by a wide margin over former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler and took office in January 2002.
His administration has been buffeted by some scandal.
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.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
