Lt. Gov. Oliver assumes acting governor role as Gov. Murphy heads off to Italy for vacation

Lt. Gov. Shelia Oliver is temporarily taking over for Gov. Phil Murphy while he is on vacation with his family in Italy.

News 12 Staff

Aug 12, 2021, 12:52 AM

Updated 1,080 days ago

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Lt. Gov. Shelia Oliver is temporarily taking over for Gov. Phil Murphy while he is on vacation with his family in Italy.
Acting Gov. Oliver held a bill signing in Trenton on Wednesday morning as her counterpart in New York also prepares to take power from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced his resignation on Tuesday.
Oliver spoke Wednesday about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We must be serious about this. We must be vigilant and we must encourage everyone in our community to consider vaccination,” Oliver said.
Oliver will be in charge of the Garden State for the next eight days.
“I will be in touch, not every day, but probably every few hours, if not more,” Murphy said at his last public appearance before vacation. “I’m confident we can take this step.”
Murphy said that his vacation doesn’t mean that he is ignoring the surging delta variant or his looming election on Nov. 2 against Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli.
“Haven’t spent one second thinking about politics and we will do this, I promise you, responsibly, like every family in the state. We’re looking forward to a few days together and we will travel responsibly,” Murphy said.
State law says New Jersey's governor loses power if he or she is out of state, even if it's just to go across the Delaware River from Trenton into Pennsylvania to grab lunch.
But in New York, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to take power full time.
“I know Kathy Hochul very well. I spoke to her on my way to Trenton this morning,” Oliver said.
Cuomo is set to leave office on Aug. 24 after a series of sexual harassment allegations. Oliver said that Hochul is up to the job of leading New York.
“I know she is going to be a good leader and during this tumultuous time in New York state, Kathy Hochul is the one to take the reins,” Oliver said.
Murphy returns to the state on Aug. 19. His opponent Ciattarelli was also overseas earlier this week. Ciattarelli set to return home tonight from a business development trip to Israel.


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