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New Jersey’s lieutenant governor resigns after sexual harassment and ethics complaints · Best of: Features

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  New Jersey lieutenant governor resigned after sexual harassment and ethics complaints. Written
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  by Mike Cattalini and Philip Marcello. This article is being read by
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  an automated voice generated by Everlett. Trenton, New Jersey, the AP.
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  New Jersey's Democratic lieutenant governor resigned Friday pushed out by the state's
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  governor after less than a year in office over accusations of ethics
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  lapses and inappropriate behavior with women. Governor Miki Sherrill, also a Democrat,
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  had given Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell until Friday to resign, seeking to
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  end a scandal that threatened to be a drag on her fledgling
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  administration. Republicans have hammered Cheryl for weeks about the investigation into Caldwell,
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  who served as acting governor in her absence. He also oversaw elections
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  as New Jersey's Secretary of State, and his resignation comes weeks ahead
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  of midterm elections that will decide who controls Congress. At a news
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  conference announcing the resignation, Sherrilsa said she was committed to changing That
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  she called a long standing problem in state government of people, turning
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  a blind eye to sexual harassment. There has been a culture in
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  Trenton, probably since the birth of our nation, to sweep this under
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  the rug, she said. That is not the kind of government I
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  am running, she added. When I say there is a culture change
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  taking place, I mean it. The governor had called for Caldwell to
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  resign on Thursday after a law firm she hired released a report
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  saying he behaved inappropriately around women. In a statement Friday, Caldwell
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  said he stepped down to keep the controversy from interfering with Sherrill's
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  important work, while maintaining that the matter had damaged his reputation. My
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  decision to resign should not be interpreted as an acceptance of the
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  report's findings, he said. His attorney, Thomas Calcagny, said they were looking
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  into legal options to challenge the report. Caldwell's resignation was far from
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  certain. Cheryl picked Caldwell, a Methodist pastor and former president of Centenary
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  University, as her running mate last year. The took office in January,
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  but within four months Caldwell had become the subject of an anonymous
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  complaint about his behavior with women. Caldwell at first showed no signs
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  he would leave office willingly. In New Jersey, a governor can't fire
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  the lieutenant governor but Caldwell could have been impeached and removed by
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  the legislature. Cheryl told reporters she'd spoken and texted with Caldwell in
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  recent days, but wouldn't say whether he expressed any remorse. Cheryl faces
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  questions about her judgment. Republican State Senator Kristen Corrado on Friday questioned
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  Sherrill's judgment for allowing Caldwell to serve as acting governor when she
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  left the State, even as his conduct was being investigated. New Jersey
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  residents deserve leadership, transparency, and answers from their government, she said. So
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  far we have gotten none. The resignation probably won't move the needle
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  much in New Jersey's midterms, said Matt Hale, a political science professor
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  at Seaton Hall University, but It gives Republicans fresh ammunition against the
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  governor. Still, he said, Democrats can contrast Caldwell's swift dismissal with the
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  Trump administration's attitude toward controversy. This wouldn't even make page six news
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  if it was at the federal level, Hale said. The allegations went
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  beyond inappropriate comments. The law firm's report released Thursday said Caldwell committed
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  several violations of state policy. It said Caldwell sixty six made an
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  advance towards a staff of member's friend, and when he was rebuffed,
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  told the staffer, You young women are looking for young sperm. The
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  report said Caldwell had tried to get a promotion for a state
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  employee he was dating, and brought personal guests to the opera and
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  other ticketed events without paying for them, as required by ethics rules.
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  Caldwell's lawyer said his client categorically denies, making the sperm statement, but
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  acknowledged that Caldwell had recommended the woman for a promotion, although he
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  denied ordering anyone to promote her. Caldwell denied other claims, including than
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  he gave out his business cards to women.
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  For inappropriate reasons. In a letter included in the report, Caldwell said
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  he suspected his relationships with women were being subjected to extra scrutiny
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  because he was a single black man. This resignation might hurt her
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  with some black democratic men, said Richard Bensell, a government professor at
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  Cornell University, but I suspect that will be more than compensated by
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  the approval of black Democratic women. Until a new lieutenant governor is
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  named, State Senate President Nicholas Scoutre will step in as acting governor
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  if Cheryl is away or unable to perform her duties. The Secretary
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  of State role will be filled by the acting State Controller, Shirley
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  Emihelu. Lieutenant governor turmoil isn't unique to New Jersey. In neighboring
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  New York, a similar impasse has played out over the past year
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  between Democratic Governor Kathy Hokul and her estranged Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado,
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  who launched a caustic primary challenge to unseat her only to withdraw
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  from the race as the election neared. Hoshuel is now running for
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  re election in November with Adrian Adams, the former Speaker of the
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  New York City Council, as her replacement lieutenant governor nominee. Caldwell, the
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  fourth lieutenant governor since the position was created in two thousand nine,
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  is the first to resign, but he's hardly the first Garden State
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  politician to be felled by scandal. U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who quit
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  in the wake of his twenty twenty four bribery conviction, and New
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  Jersey Governor Jim McGreevy, who resigned in two thousand four after coming
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  out as gay as questions swirled about him, appointing his one time
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  lover as the state's homeland security advisor. Both are also Democrats. Marcello
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  reported from New York.