Governor 'Jersey' Mikie Sherrill found herself in a bit of a pickle with her Lt. Gov., Dr. Dale Caldwell, who also serves as New Jersey's Secretary of State.
She had personally handpicked Dr. Caldwell, a university president and Methodist minister, to be her running mate. He certainly seemed to tick all the right progressive, urban, East Coast boxes.
Mikie Sherrill has picked Dale G. Caldwell, the president of a small university in Warren County, a Methodist pastor, and former school board member in New Brunswick with a long history of government service, as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
Sherrill made her decision after the list of candidates was narrowed to Caldwell, the president of Centenary University, and two others: former Assistant Attorney General Shavar Jeffries and Samuel Delgado, the vice chairman of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
The 65-year-old Caldwell became the president of Centenary in 2023. The Hackettstown-based college, which has about 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students, has called an emergency meeting of its board of trustees for tomorrow.
In 2006, he became the president and CEO of the United States Tennis Association – the first Black person to hold that post – and is a founder of the Black Tennis Hall of Fame.
Caldwell is also the pastor of the Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield. He is a third-generation clergyman.
He served on the New Brunswick Board of Education for 26 years, resigning 14 months ago to spend more time on his new college presidency. His daughter, Ashley, then 19, was appointed to fill his seat.
After only months in the job, though, Dr. Caldwell became the subject of some pretty intense and serious accusations of sexual harassment.
Rumor and the filed complaints said that the bachelor Secretary of State was enjoying the perks on the days he got to play Lt. Gov. maybe a little too much, and had let the whole experience get to his head.
An anonymous letter all the way back in May, and mere months after the Sherrill team took office, started the investigation ball rolling on the allegations.
Anonymous Letter Set Investigation Into a Lieutenant Governor in Motion
...Her office has released no information about the investigation or its scope. But documents suggest that the inquiry began with an anonymous letter, sent in May to a variety of state officials and media representatives.
In it, a person who identified themselves as a “concerned NJ resident” claimed that Dr. Caldwell, who was working as the president of Centenary University when Ms. Sherrill tapped him last year as her running mate, had brought “uninvited female guests” to three events.
“He just showed up with them and they were admitted for free because he is the Lieutenant Governor and no one wants to tell him ‘no,’ ” the letter stated.
The complaint also accused Dr. Caldwell, who is single, of handing out business cards to women he was hoping to date. “He should not be trying to get dates while he is traveling on the taxpayer’s dime,” the person wrote. “And he should not be accepting free tickets to costly events for the women he is trying to impress.”
Dr. Caldwell vigorously denied the accusations and claimed racism was afoot.
...Dr. Caldwell, who is Black, has also suggested that race and gender were at play.
“As the first single Black man to serve at this level in government, I suspect that there will be other false accusations or rumors in the future,” he wrote May 28 to the state’s chief ethics officer, in response to the anonymous complaint.
“The complaint appears to be driven by misinformation, false assumptions and what seems to be a personal vendetta against me,” he added.
But word of the investigation really didn't break through until the beginning of this month, and, even then, Sherrill still left the state in Dr. Caldwell's hands when she traveled.
Lt. Governor Dale Caldwell is the subject of an internal investigation by Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office for alleged inappropriate behavior with women and possible ethics violations that include the purported offer of state jobs, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
The Sherrill administration has brought in Christopher Porrino, a former New Jersey Attorney General, to conduct the inquiry. Porrino and one of his law partners, Shontae Gray, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, have been interviewing complainants, including state employees, and potential witnesses.
Caldwell, 66, who also serves as Secretary of State, has been cooperating with the probe.
Few details about the specific allegations are available, and it’s unclear how long it will take Porrino to complete his assignment. But sources outside the governor’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, verified the claim against the lieutenant governor and Porrino’s role.
As recently as last week, after the investigation had begun, Caldwell served as acting governor for three days while Sherrill was out of state. He had no press availability on his public schedule.
Sherrill’s office, though fast to act and launch an investigation, declined to address assertions against Caldwell.
Why is NJ Gov Mikie Sherril so quiet about her Lt. Gov who is under investigation? Even her own side is wondering what the hell is going on https://t.co/ulcsxBdQmX pic.twitter.com/U4SO39BxVh
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) September 9, 2026
That is, she didn't have anything to say until yesterday, when the investigation report was released and the results were damning to Dr. Caldwell.
The second paragraph of the executive summary that opens the report is just brutal.
...A violation of the Workplace Policy is substantiated. Credible evidence shows that the LG made a romantic advance toward a female staffer's friend. After his advance was rebuffed, the LG told the staffer, in reference to her and her friend, that "you young women are looking for young sperm." The LG's comment, sexual in nature, caused the staffer to change the way she interacted with the LG at work, to attempt to distance herself from him, and to avoid travel with him when possible. We find that the LG's conduct, as set forth in greater detail below, constituted sexual harassment, and was derogatory or demeaning in reference to the staffer's sex, which is a protected category. The LG denied making this comment, but we did not find his denial credible.
It seems to go downhill from there, and it was a tough spot for a governor who personally chose the man yet claims to be a champion of women's rights. The results were especially galling to Sherrill, because, as her statement alludes to, it seems they'd tried some 'sensitivity retraining' on the Lt Gov/Secretary of State and it just must not have stuck.
So he got a second chance under the radar (which raises its own set of questions), and the report says he blew it anyway.
...Ms. Sherrill seemed particularly troubled that at least some of the incidents took place after Dr. Caldwell had been retrained on the state’s ethics guidelines.
“The ethical lapses persisted despite multiple warnings and trainings,” she said when she released the 61-page report.
“I’ve seen firsthand how a hostile culture can undermine everyone’s ability to succeed,” she added. “It’s insidious and ruptures the trust within an organization.”
When she dropped the goods on her running mate, Sherrill dropped the hammer as well, demanding Caldwell's resignation by the end of this week.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is demanding Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resign by Friday after an independent investigation substantiated sexual harassment and two ethics violations.
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) September 25, 2026
Investigators found Caldwell told a female staffer "you young women are looking for young sperm"… pic.twitter.com/aYg4orfoOC
...Investigators found Caldwell told a female staffer "you young women are looking for young sperm" after she told him her younger friend wasn't interested in a romantic relationship with him. The staffer said she tried to distance herself from Caldwell at work and avoid traveling with him. Investigators concluded his denial of the remark was not credible.
The report also found Caldwell repeatedly brought personal guests to ticketed events without ethics clearance or payment — even the day after he was formally notified of the investigation — and used his state email to push a promotion for a woman he was romantically involved with, referring to her only as "my friend" without disclosing the relationship.
Caldwell pulled the plug this afternoon, giving up his efforts to remain in office.
🔥🚨 JUST IN: After only 9 months in office, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell RESIGNS amid Sexual harassment allegations.
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) September 25, 2026
Sexually charged remark to a staffer. Ethics violations. Internal probe. Mikie Sherrill gave him until Friday.
He fought it. Called the report one-sided.… pic.twitter.com/4usxknG95t
Sherrill announced shortly thereafter that she'd named the Acting Comptroller, Shirley Emehelu, as the Acting Secretary of State, and she would handle the Lt. Gov. duties until a new one could be appointed.
I have named Acting Comptroller Shirley Emehelu to serve as Acting Secretary of State.
— Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) September 25, 2026
Shirley is a veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
She has the judgment to run our elections – and the strength to stand up to Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/DchPRLx3oB
SHE HAS THE JUDGEMENT TO RUN OUR ELECTIONS - AND THE STRENGTH TO STAND UP TO TRUMP'S ATTACKS ON OUR VOTING
Um...about that...
Now NJ Gov Mikie Sherill in 2019 saying the garden state has the least safe elections in the country, makes you wonder 🤔 doesn't it as the Democrats here won't release the voter rollshttps://t.co/nEQNsI74Fa
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) May 8, 2026
Sounds like New Jersey's staying in 'good hands,' only with an all-female crew at the helm now.
So now no one can be offended by anything they do, and you don't dare say anything if you are.
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