New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resigned Friday after a blistering ethics investigation concluded he made sexually explicit comments to a staffer and tried to use his position to secure a state job for his girlfriend.
On Thursday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill gave her second-in-command 24 hours to post his resignation in the wake of the 61-page report by investigators for an outside law firm. Caldwell has denied the allegations.
“I’m not resigning because of the report,” he told The New York Times. “It’s false. I’m resigning because I don’t want to be a distraction to the administration.”
The governor’s ethics office opened the probe into Caldwell after officials received an anonymous tip in May alleging that the lieutenant governor had sexually harassed a young woman who worked for him.
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According to the report, Caldwell, 66, made a sexual remark after a staffer told him her friend was not interested in a relationship with him. Caldwell responded that the staffer and her friend “needed a man who was in a position to help them,” but that “you young women are looking for young sperm.”
Investigators from law firm Lowenstein Sandler concluded that Caldwell’s behavior constituted sexual misconduct and ethics violations.
Caldwell’s lawyer, Thomas Calcagni, pushed back against the report’s findings and called into question the credibility of the staff member.
“This unnecessarily protracted and one-sided process lacked the requisite due process that should be afforded every citizen of this state,” he wrote in a document refuting the report.
Investigators said that four days after Caldwell received notice of the ethics probe, he used his government email to advocate for his girlfriend to receive a promotion to a state government job. They also uncovered evidence that Caldwell brought guests to several ticketed events without payment, despite receiving explicit warnings from ethics officials.
Sherrill held a news conference about Caldwell’s resignation Friday afternoon. She said he underwent a “thorough” vetting process before the two were elected on the same ticket and took office in January, but his behavior after taking office raised concerns and justified the ethics probe.
“Public servants must abide by the highest ethical standards,” she said. “We can no longer tolerate the culture of silence, sweeping things under the rug or kicking cans down the road.”
Sherrill said her team will work to hire a new lieutenant governor over the next 45 days, and she intends to prioritize someone with a history of “focusing on the public good.”
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