About our lieutenant governor debacle

It’s been a whirlwind in Trenton in the last few days, with the Sherrill administration dropping a report on Thursday accusing Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell of multiple ethical lapses and then Caldwell stepping down Friday afternoon, about 1/11 of a Scaramucci later.

I have a few thoughts.

First, while I was initially alarmed by this week’s reports that Gov. Mikie Sherrill left the state more than a dozen times during the Caldwell investigation — leaving him in charge as acting governor — after reading the report, I’m less concerned.

I’m not defending any of his alleged conduct. But the claims in the report amount to making crass remarks to women subordinates, bringing dates to functions without paying for them, and pushing for a promotion for his state worker girlfriend.

If Sherrill had been under the impression that those working with Caldwell were in actual danger or that he could have successfully placed his loved ones on the state payroll, she should have stayed home, but nothing in the report indicates that.

The most salacious passage of the report has gotten most of the attention.

It says that a woman who worked for Caldwell alleged that he spent an April function hitting on her much younger friend and that he felt a certain way when she told him on the car ride from the event that the friend was not interested.

Caldwell told her that women their age who are ambitious need a man to help them, according to the report. But, the report alleges he said then, “You young women are looking for young sperm.”

I’m not sure what men still need to hear this in 2026, but if you are in a position of power and talking to a woman subordinate — especially in a place where they cannot easily escape, like a moving car — do not talk about sperm. Unless you’re a medical professional, this is a very easy rule to follow.

The only thing that heartens me about this is that not too long ago, the woman staffer may have felt she couldn’t complain about hearing this crass and inappropriate remark from her much older, more powerful boss. But she told someone and the guy was publicly castigated for it. A tiny bit of progress.

Caldwell denies making this remark. A state trooper who was in the back seat for the car ride said he did not hear this conversation.

The Legislature dodged a bullet when Caldwell decided to resign.

Sherrill did not have a ton of leverage to force Caldwell out, but the Legislature could have voted to remove him.

The most obvious cause for his removal would have been the report’s biggest claim: that Caldwell repeatedly sought a promotion for a state worker he was dating.

In May, Caldwell urged an unnamed state official to promote one of their employees without disclosing that he was dating the woman in question, the report claims.

That same month, Caldwell emailed a second unnamed state official to say the woman he was dating “would be a great addition” to the leadership team at an unnamed state department, the report says.

“I understand there are some openings,” Caldwell wrote. “Please share her information as you see fit.”

The official talked to Caldwell and told him the woman would not be promoted and urged Caldwell to “be careful.” The woman was never promoted and no longer works for the state, the report says.

Caldwell, an outsider who won a landslide election last year after promising to change Trenton’s culture, arrived in our capital and, according to the report’s authors, almost immediately tried to use his influence to benefit his girlfriend. Classic New Jersey.

Caldwell did the Legislature a favor by resigning. If lawmakers had moved forward with trying to remove him, he may have used the proceedings to ask how many of them have procured jobs for their family members or paramours. Would have gotten awkward.

The Caldwell debacle has had one major impact on the public: throwing the office of the secretary of state into turmoil.

Caldwell also served in that role, and as such oversaw our elections. It’s 39 days until Election Day. Mail-in ballots are already in the hands of voters, some of whom have already sent them in. And now Caldwell’s departure has forced Sherrill to put a newcomer into the role of secretary of state, Shirley Emehelu.

This is not a knock on Emehelu, whose career has largely focused on white-collar crime and eight months as our comptroller. But the idea that our state’s elections chief has no experience in that area gives me agita, especially as the Trump administration is moving as swiftly as possible to wholly revamp how our elections are administered.

Sherrill tried to calm those fears when speaking to reporters in Trenton on Friday.

“It is of paramount importance that our elections run smoothly and that New Jerseyans have confidence in the officials overseeing them,” Sherrill said, adding that Emehelu “has the judgment to run these elections and the strength to stand up to Trump’s attacks on voting.”

Here’s hoping Emehelu will be a better choice than Caldwell was.