Gov. Mikie Sherrill gave her hand-picked Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell a one-day deadline to step down after a 61-page independent investigation found he sexually harassed a female staffer and violated state ethics rules.
Sherrill, a Democrat who chose Caldwell as her running mate just over a year ago, announced the demand Thursday evening, hours after the release of an investigation report authored by the law firm Lowenstein Sandler and led by former New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino. The report concluded that Caldwell's conduct "constituted sexual harassment and was derogatory or demeaning," that he violated the state's Uniform Ethics Code by trying to secure a promotion for a woman he was secretly dating, and that he repeatedly brought personal guests to ticketed state events on the public's dime.
The governor did not mince words about the consequences. "I'm calling for his resignation and giving him until tomorrow to do so," Sherrill said. She added that if Caldwell refused, the state legislature could pursue impeachment, a path that would deepen the political damage for a Democratic administration barely seven months into its term.
The investigation traced the trouble to an anonymous letter the governor's office received in May accusing Caldwell of inappropriate behavior toward women. Porrino's team spent months interviewing witnesses and reviewing records before delivering the 61-page report.
Among the most damaging findings: at an official event in April, the 66-year-old Caldwell allegedly hit on a much younger friend of one of his staffers. After the woman rejected his advance, Caldwell climbed into a state vehicle with a female aide and told her, according to the report, "you young women are looking for young sperm." Caldwell's attorney, Thomas Calcagni, denied that the remark was ever made.
The report also found that Caldwell had tasked a female staffer with finding him a "first lady", framed, investigators noted, in connection with a potential run for governor. When the staffer declined the assignment, Caldwell became "pushy," the report stated. Investigators concluded he was seeking a romantic partner through a subordinate's labor, a pattern they described as demeaning.
The episode fits a growing pattern of Democratic officials blindsided by misconduct scandals within their own ranks, crises that party leadership has struggled to contain before they metastasize into broader political liabilities.
Perhaps the most brazen finding involved timing. The report revealed that Caldwell had already been "admonished and trained" on workplace conduct and ethics before the investigation began. Less than a month after that training, and just four days after being formally notified that the probe was underway, Caldwell used his official state email account to recommend his girlfriend for a "senior leadership position."
He referred to the woman as a "friend" and concealed their romantic relationship. Investigators concluded that by "recommending a person with whom he was in a dating relationship for a promotion, the LG clearly violated" the Uniform Ethics Code. The report was blunt: "These rules do not turn on whether the LG's request was framed as a demand, as they prohibit any attempt to use one's official position to benefit a romantic partner."
The woman did not receive the promotion and no longer works for the state.
Caldwell also brought personal guests, including his daughter and his girlfriend, to at least seven ticketed events, using his official title to gain admission without paying. After being told he could not accept free tickets, he reimbursed the state $175 for one event. Fox News reported that Caldwell continued bringing unpaid guests to events despite repeated warnings, including one day after being formally notified of the investigation.
The investigation itself has cost New Jersey taxpayers $50,000, according to NJ.com.
Caldwell has not resigned. In a statement to the New York Times, he called the investigation "driven by misinformation, false assumptions and what seems to be a personal vendetta against me." He then shifted the frame further, adding:
"Unfortunately, in this current political environment, false accusations, especially against people of color, seem to be commonplace."
His attorney, Calcagni, disputed the report's conclusions and its process. In a statement to NJ.com, Calcagni argued there was a meaningful distinction between forwarding a qualified applicant's résumé and "actually using the power of public office to secure a job or financial benefit for someone." He called the investigation "this unnecessary protected and one-sided process" that "lacked the requisite due process that should be afforded every citizen of this state."
On the ticket violations, Caldwell told investigators he "did not fully understand the applicable rules, that the area was 'gray,' and that he did nothing wrong by bringing guests to events." The report noted he had already been trained on those exact rules before the violations continued.
The Washington Examiner reported that Sherrill's swift action caught Democrats off guard, with the governor stating that the investigation found Caldwell "engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office."
The resignation demand is a sharp reversal for Sherrill, who introduced Caldwell as her running mate in July 2025 with effusive praise. "I'm proud to select Dale Caldwell as my Lieutenant Governor running mate because we share a commitment to public service and challenging the status quo," she said at the time. She called him "the son of civil rights leaders who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma" and said "he's followed in his parents' footsteps and he has always been a voice for the voiceless."
Caldwell, a former president of Centenary University, also oversees New Jersey's Department of State. The pair defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli and were sworn in roughly seven months before the crisis erupted.
The situation mirrors a broader pattern of Democrats scrambling to distance themselves from their own candidates when misconduct surfaces, often after the party invested significant political capital in those same figures.
Republicans had already been pressing for accountability before Thursday's report dropped. GOP state Senate leader Anthony Bucco posted on X on September 4, calling for Caldwell to step aside while the probe played out:
"Considering the complex duties of his position, Lt. Gov. Caldwell should temporarily step down from his duties as Lieutenant Governor."
New Jersey Republicans had demanded Caldwell be placed on leave. Sherrill refused to confirm or deny leaked allegations in recent weeks, waiting until Thursday to act. Just The News noted that if Caldwell refuses to resign, Sherrill's only recourse is impeachment through the state legislature, a process that would require bipartisan cooperation and could drag on for months.
Should Caldwell dig in, the spectacle would add New Jersey to a growing list of states where Democrats face painful deadlines to remove scandal-plagued officials from positions the party itself elevated them to fill.
Sherrill framed the demand in institutional terms. "I hold everyone in my Administration to the highest ethical standard," she said. "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."
The question now is whether Caldwell will go quietly, or force the governor who championed him to pursue the messy, public process of removing him. Either way, New Jersey taxpayers are left holding the bill for a lieutenant governor who, by the state's own investigators' account, could not follow the rules he was trained on, could not keep his personal interests out of his public office, and could not treat the women around him with basic professional respect.
Democrats built this problem when they built the ticket. Now they own it.