New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell resigned Friday after a 61-page ethics report substantiated sexual harassment claims, yet insisted he left only so he would not distract the governor.
Caldwell submitted his resignation Friday afternoon, one day after Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill gave him 24 hours to quit. An independent probe led by former New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino found sexual harassment and serious, repeated violations of state policy, including ethical lapses.
The lieutenant governor denied the report forced him out. He called the findings false, specious, and poorly done, and said he was stepping aside so he would not become a distraction to Sherrill’s administration. The episode leaves New Jersey’s top Democrat scrambling to fill two roles and raises fresh questions about the running-mate pick she once praised.
The New York Post reported that Sherrill formally demanded the resignation Thursday night after the report dropped. She accepted the resignation the next day. Under state rules, the governor cannot fire a lieutenant governor; only the Legislature can remove one through impeachment.
Sherrill framed the exit as a matter of standards. In a statement tied to the demand, she said everyone in her administration must follow ethics and harassment rules and the state code of conduct.
"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."
Fox News reported her further assessment: the investigation found Caldwell failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office and showed a pattern of behavior that does not meet administration standards. The report, she said, documented serious, repeated violations of state policy, including ethical lapses and a substantiated finding of sexual harassment. She added that she gave him until Friday to resign and accepted the paperwork that afternoon.
The fall came months after Sherrill elevated him. In July 2025 she named Caldwell her lieutenant governor running mate in the race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli. She called him a “voice for the voiceless,” “committed to New Jersey,” and said she was proud to select him because they shared a commitment to public service and challenging the status quo. Caldwell, 66, is a divorced Methodist pastor and former president of Centenary University who has long cited marching in Selma, Ala., with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
That endorsement now sits beside a different record. An anonymous complaint in May triggered the probe. The resulting 61-page report described a pattern that investigators said crossed clear lines. Sherrill’s public deadline left little room to maneuver once the findings were out.
Between Feb. 19 and May 23, the report found, Caldwell brought one or more guests to seven ticketed events without paying. Those included the State Opera of New Jersey and a Rowan University Rosa Parks Scholarship Luncheon. Ticket prices ranged from $65 to $300.
The harassment finding centered on an April incident. Investigators said Caldwell hit on a staffer’s much-younger friend at an official event. After the advances were rejected, he allegedly told the aide in the back of his state vehicle, “you young women are looking for young sperm.” The report treated the remark as sexual harassment. Caldwell’s attorney, Thomas Calcagni, denied that his client made the comment.
The Washington Examiner noted that the Lowenstein Sandler-linked investigation also found Caldwell sought a promotion for someone with whom he had an undisclosed romantic relationship. The same report said he tasked a staffer with finding him a “first lady,” then grew pushy when she refused. It further described him scoring pricey tickets for romantic pursuits and securing his girlfriend a cushy state promotion.
Breitbart reported Sherrill’s blunt summary of the findings: the lieutenant governor engaged in serious, repeated violations of state policy and failed to uphold the responsibilities of his office. She said she was calling for his resignation and giving him until the next day to do so. Caldwell’s lawyers rejected the probe as twisted and reliant on hearsay.
In Friday interviews with the New York Times and Fox News, Caldwell refused to accept the report’s conclusions. He said he was not resigning because of it.
"I’m not resigning because of the report. It’s false. I’m resigning because I don’t want to be a distraction to the administration."
He added that he remains supportive of the Sherrill administration and wants her to succeed. He labeled the document “that ridiculous report,” “specious,” and “poorly done,” and said he was disappointed in the legal work. He encouraged people to read it and claimed some items presented as accusations were not accusations at all. “This is one of those things that happens,” he said, adding that he would continue as a private citizen and was “freed up to do a lot more things.”
Caldwell also injected race into his defense. “Unfortunately, in this current political environment, false accusations, especially against people of color, seem to be commonplace,” he said. That claim sits against the investigators’ conclusion that the sexual-harassment finding was substantiated and that his denial was not credible.
Democrats have faced repeated pressure to cut loose figures after misconduct findings, a pattern voters have noticed in other races. Scandals have dragged down party standing when leaders move slowly or offer weak explanations. Caldwell’s race argument and attack on the probe give opponents a clear contrast: the report’s concrete findings versus a defiant exit message.
Just The News reported that Sherrill, who called for the resignation, will choose the replacement. Caldwell had been elected with her in November 2025. She now must fill both the lieutenant governor post and the secretary of state duties that came with it, with midterms ahead.
The sequence was tight. Report released Thursday evening. Sherrill’s 24-hour demand that same night. Resignation Friday afternoon. No criminal charges are described in the available findings; the case is framed as ethics, harassment policy, and code-of-conduct breaches. The Legislature retains the impeachment power the governor lacks, but the resignation made that fight unnecessary.
Sherrill’s own words from the campaign trail now read differently. The man she cast as a partner in challenging the status quo left office under a substantiated harassment finding, free-ticket violations, and an alleged effort to steer a state job to a romantic partner. Her administration’s statement stressed accountability. The report’s details supplied the test.
Other recent Democratic exits have followed a similar arc: defend, delay, then distance once the record hardens. Party leaders have scrambled to separate themselves from scandal-plagued allies after earlier defenses collapsed. Caldwell’s case fits that mold, with the added twist that he quit while still attacking the investigation that forced the choice.
For taxpayers and staff who work under state ethics rules, the practical result is clearer than Caldwell’s press-tour framing. A 61-page probe found repeated policy breaches and sexual harassment. The governor set a deadline. He left. Whether the replacement restores confidence will depend on conduct, not campaign slogans about public service.
Coverage of the resignation already tracks the same core facts: the report, the demand, and the Friday exit. Readers watching Democratic accountability fights elsewhere, including races where leaders backed away from damaged candidates, will recognize the incentives. When the findings are public and the clock is short, defiance rarely outruns the record.
Leaders who preach high ethical standards own the picks they make and the standards they enforce. Caldwell’s resignation closes one chapter; it does not erase the report that made staying impossible.