New Jersey governor calls for lieutenant governor to resign

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill called on Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell to resign by Friday after an independent investigation found that he violated state workplace and ethics rules. Caldwell denies the allegations, and his lawyers say the investigation was one-sided.

“The investigation found that the Lieutenant Governor engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office,” Sherrill said Thursday. She said she was giving Caldwell “until tomorrow” to resign.

The report, published Wednesday, found that Caldwell violated a state policy prohibiting workplace discrimination. According to The Guardian, it said Caldwell made an advance toward a staffer’s friend and, after being rebuffed, told the staffer: “You young women are looking for young sperm.” NBC News reported that the 61-page investigation found he had sexually harassed both the staffer and her friend.

The investigation also found that Caldwell repeatedly used his office to try to secure a promotion for a state employee with whom he had a romantic relationship, without disclosing that relationship. It found that he brought personal guests to ticketed events without paying or reimbursing the cost of their admission.

“Where a sponsor waives admission to an event for an official’s family member, friend, or date, the value of that admission is an impermissible benefit to the official,” the report said, according to The Guardian.

Sherrill said Caldwell’s “ethical lapses persisted despite multiple warnings and trainings.” She called the substantiated sexual harassment finding “extremely troubling,” saying a hostile culture can undermine people’s ability to succeed and rupture trust within an organization. She said the investigation had examined the evidence while protecting privacy, and that Caldwell’s resignation was “necessary and in the best interest of New Jersey residents.”

Caldwell’s lawyer, Thomas Calcagni, said his legal team “strongly disputed the three findings in the investigation” and argued that its conclusions “go further than the evidence supports.” He said Caldwell was not given a meaningful chance to address the anonymous allegations or identify witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the events. Calcagni called the process “unnecessarily protracted and one-sided” and said it lacked due process.

State Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco called the findings “deeply disappointing.” If Caldwell does not resign, Bucco said, the Legislature should follow the necessary protocols to resolve the matter.

Caldwell, a Democrat, was elected with Sherrill last year. The state said this month that it had hired a law firm to investigate allegations that he had behaved inappropriately toward women, NBC News reported. He has served as acting governor numerous times while Sherrill has been away since the investigation began, according to NBC News.

Caldwell is also New Jersey’s secretary of state, overseeing elections ahead of the November midterms. He is the fourth person to serve as the state’s lieutenant governor, a position established by referendum in 2005.