Former New Jersey governor James Florio dies at 73

James Florio died Sunday, who championed a plan that raised the state's sales and income taxes and ultimately led to his re-election in 1993. Phil Murphy confirmed that Florio died on Monday.

Florio was a fighter who never backed down. Murphy, a fellow Democrat, said in a statement that he was a leader who cared more about the future of New Jersey than his own political fortunes.

Florio was a long-time public servant who held numerous positions at the local, county, state and federal levels.

He was a Democrat and made three unsuccessful runs for the governor before he became the first Italian-American to serve as the state's chief executive in 1989 when he defeated Republican Jim Courter.

Florio drew a lot of criticism in 1990 when he introduced a $2.8 billion tax increase through the state legislature that extended a sales tax to toilet paper. It spurred voter resentment and spurred the formation of Hands Across New Jersey, an anti-tax grass roots group that used rolls of toilet paper as its symbol.

Florio was ousted by Republican Christie Whitman, who tapped into voter anger over the tax hike and won the race by about 26,000 votes.

Before becoming a governor, Florio served four years in the state assembly and 15 years in the House of Representatives. In 2000 he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, losing to investment banker Jon Corzine in one of the most expensive Senate primaries in history.

Corzine won the Senate seat that year and held it until he won the governor's office in 2005.

Florio continued to be an active voice and weighed in on several issues long after he left office. He was a regular in the halls of the statehouse during legislative sessions.

In February 2015, Florio and three other former New Jersey governors urged the state Senate to delay a vote on Gov. Chris Christie is the nominee for a southern New Jersey panel that oversees a million-acre pine reserve. The ex-governors claimed that the nomination would undermine the independence of the commission, but the senate approved the nominee for the job.

Florio was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Trenton State College now known as The College of New Jersey and graduated from the Rutgers School of Law in 1967. He served from 1955 to 1958 as an officer in the Navy and continued as a reservist until 1975, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant commander.