New Jersey’s governor calls on her lieutenant governor to resign over ethics report

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Thursday evening that she gave Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell “until tomorrow” to resign after an investigation found he had violated state ethics and harassment policy.

“Today, I’m announcing the conclusion and findings of an independent investigation into allegations regarding Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell,” Sherrill wrote on X. “The investigation found that the Lieutenant Governor engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office. I’m calling for his resignation and giving him until tomorrow to do so.”

The state said this month that it had hired a law firm to investigate allegations against Caldwell, a Democrat who was elected on the ticket with Sherrill last year, claiming that he had behaved inappropriately toward women.

Sherrill said Caldwell’s “ethical lapses persisted despite multiple warnings and trainings.”

“The substantiated finding of sexual harassment is extremely troubling. I’ve seen firsthand how a hostile culture can undermine everyone’s ability to succeed. It’s insidious and ruptures the trust within an organization,” she said.

Sherrill said that the investigation “fully examined the evidence, followed the facts, and protected everyone’s privacy” and that Caldwell’s resignation “is necessary and in the best interest of New Jersey residents.”

Lawyers for Caldwell, who has denied the allegations, said in a statement Thursday night that they “strongly disputed the three findings in the investigation,” as its conclusions “go further than the evidence supports.”

“This unnecessarily protracted and one-sided process lacked the requisite due process that should be afforded every citizen of this state,” said Thomas Calcagni, a lawyer for Caldwell.

Calcagni said Caldwell was “not provided a meaningful opportunity to address each of these anonymous allegations or offer readily identifiable witnesses who possessed more pertinent, first-hand knowledge of the events in question.”

The 61-page report found that Caldwell sexually harassed a young female staffer and her friend. Caldwell was also found to have violated state ethics rules for using his office to try to promote a state employee whom he had a romantic relationship with “on multiple occasions,” without disclosing the relationship.

He also violated ethics rules by making a practice of taking personal guests to ticketed events without providing payment or reimbursement for the tickets, the report said.

State Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco said in a statement Thursday that the investigation’s findings were “deeply disappointing.”

“This situation has gone on for far too long, and if he doesn’t agree to resign, the Legislature should follow the necessary protocols to resolve this matter once and for all,” Bucco said.

Caldwell is only the fourth lieutenant governor in New Jersey history, as the role was established by referendum in 2005. It includes the responsibility of taking over as governor when the governor is away, which Caldwell has done numerous times since the investigation began.

Caldwell is also New Jersey’s secretary of state, overseeing elections, a critical role as the midterm elections approach in November.