Lt. Gov. Resigns After Sexual Harassment Report, Sherrill Names New Acting Secretary Of State

By Ryan Conway (NJ State House News Service)

TRENTON, N.J. – Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resigned Friday, a day after Gov. Mikie Sherrill demanded he do so in response to an investigation that concluded he sexually harassed a staff member and committed ethics violations.

Sherrill expressed disappointment over Caldwell’s behavior after the scandal roiled state politics since the investigation was first publicly reported Labor Day weekend. In a State House news conference Friday where she announced Caldwell’s resignation, she pledged that her administration would not tolerate inappropriate behavior as she works to bring about change at the state capital.

“There has been a culture in Trenton, probably since the birth of our nation, to sweep this under the rug,” Sherrill said. “That is not the kind of government I’m running. When I say there is a culture change taking place, I mean it.”

Sherrill made public a report Thursday night from an investigation that began in May, four months after their inauguration, that confirmed Caldwell committed several ethics violations, including sexual harassment. 

Caldwell and his attorney have denied the allegations in the report.

“Caldwell’s resignation, submitted to put an end to the targeted campaign to discredit his character, does not in any way diminish our outrage concerning the investigative process and its specious findings,” Thomas Calcagni, Caldwell’s lawyer said Friday in a written statement.

Caldwell, 66, who hasn’t publicly appeared to address the issue, also stepped down as secretary of state, the state’s top elections office. With pivotal midterm elections just 39 days away, Sherrill tabbed Shirley Emehelu, who was serving as acting state comptroller, to serve as acting secretary of state.

Emehelu appeared with Sherrill at the press conference and pledged that November’s election would go smoothly and not be impacted by Caldwell’s unceremonious exit.

“I want all New Jerseyans to have confidence in the elections and the officials tasked with administering them,” Emehelu said. “For months, the Department of State team has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming elections, in partnership with local and county election officials. I will make sure their work proceeds as planned.”

Under New Jersey law, Sherrill has 45 days to appoint a new lieutenant governor. She said Friday she would not name an acting person to that post.

Sherrill chose Caldwell as her running mate last year. She insisted that her team had conducted a strong vetting process. She said reports of troubling behavior by Caldwell while he served as president of Centenary University were an “administrative matter” at the institution.

“The vetting process was thorough, and unfortunately some of the behavior from the time he took office raised concerns and led to the chief ethics officer starting an independent investigation,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill noted the report found that Caldwell received multiple ethics and workplace training sessions since taking office in January.

The report conducted by former state Attorney General Christopher Porrino, at the request of the state’s chief ethics officer, found that Caldwell “was specifically put on notice of concerns about his conduct toward women on multiple occasions, and at times directly admonished for it, before this investigation began.”

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, a Republican from Boonton, called Caldwell’s resignation an “unfortunate but necessary” decision.

The governor came under fire from some members of the state GOP, for failing to disclose the monthslong investigation to the public when it first started, and leaving the state while it was ongoing, which gave Caldwell the powers of acting governor.

“I think members of the GOP are not happy because they’ve had to duck and cover for years now because the president of the United States, the head of their party, is the most corrupt individual in politics,” Sherrill said. “They’re probably unhappy because we are running an incredibly competent government here in New Jersey, which I think stands in such sharp contrast to everything we see at the federal level.”

Porrino’s report found a preponderance of evidence showing that Caldwell had tried to get a promotion for his romantic partner within state government without disclosing their relationship, had taken female guests to at least seven official functions without paying, including the State Opera of New Jersey’s annual gala and told a female staffer “you young women are looking for young sperm” in violation of workplace policies prohibiting discrimination.

The report noted that Caldwell denied making the offensive comment, but investigators wrote they did not find his denial credible.