Lt. Gov. Caldwell resigns amid misconduct allegations
On Thursday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill called on Caldwell to step down after an independent investigation revealed that he "engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office.”
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New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell is resigning effective immediately amid an investigation into alleged misconduct.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill gave Caldwell an ultimatum to resign by Friday, though she lacked the power to remove him if he refused.
Sherrill announced the resignation at a news conference Friday afternoon.
“His decision will allow us to move forward with important work serving the people of our state,” she said.
Sherrill said that Caldwell, "engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office.” This includes making romantic advances toward a female staffer’s friend. The report also states that Caldwell tried to get a promotion for a state employee he had a romantic relationship with.
Caldwell also faces ethics violations for allegedly using his position to bring guests to ticketed social events but not paying for them.
See the full report below:
“I hold everyone in my Administration to the highest ethical standard. We all have a duty to follow our state ethics and harassment policy and our Code of Conduct. Anyone who violates these will be held accountable,” Sherrill wrote in a statement Thursday.
RELATED: Gov. Sherrill calls on Lt. Gov. Caldwell to resign following misconduct investigation
In a previous statement, an attorney for Caldwell disputed the findings, saying the 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,” according to Thomas Calcagni of Calcagni & Kanefsky, LLP. “The Lieutenant Governor 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. It appears, in fact, that even those who voluntarily came forward with first-hand accounts were entirely excluded from the process. These due process concerns, coupled with breaches of confidentiality throughout the process, render any findings palpably deficient and create a dangerous and challenging precedent for anyone who wishes to defend against anonymous conjecture and character assassination."
The attorney went on to say that the workplace harassment allegations "were never meaningfully tested or fairly questioned."
On Thursday, Republican state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon spoke to News 12 about the investigation. He says this isn’t about politics.
"It is inappropriate and he needs to resign. Whatever issues with the Sherrill administration, he needs to resign,” O’Scanlon said. “He can't dig his heels in now...he needs to get out."
Before Sherrill hand-picked Caldwell to be the lieutenant governor, he served in numerous leadership roles in the public and private sector, including a position as the president of Centenary University.
