Ex-prosecutor becomes NJ’s new lieutenant governor

Shirley Emehelu, a former state and federal prosecutor and a longtime friend of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, was sworn in as the state’s new lieutenant governor Monday.

The appointment, which the state constitution empowers Sherrill to make unilaterally, fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Dale Caldwell, who stepped down in September after internal investigators said he had violated state ethics rules and made inappropriate sexual comments. Sherrill had already tapped Emehelu to succeed Caldwell as New Jersey’s secretary of state.

“Back in September, I said I wanted a partner in government who would represent my administration and the people of New Jersey with honor and integrity,” Sherrill said in Trenton Monday. “I found that partner in Shirley, a leader with an exceptional track record of doing right by people.”

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New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner swore Emehelu in Monday morning.

Emehelu is a prosecutor of long experience. Before joining the Sherrill administration as acting comptroller — a position she ceded when she became acting secretary of state — Emehelu was the New Jersey executive assistant attorney general, the third-highest post in the state’s prosecutorial office.

Earlier, she headed the asset recovery and money laundering section of the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office. Her nine-year tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s Office intersected with Sherrill’s own.

Emehelu has also worked as a defense attorney in the private sector.

“As lieutenant governor, I look forward to working alongside Gov. Sherrill and these dedicated public servants to make life more affordable, expand opportunity for all our communities, especially in helping the governor meet the goals of the Black agenda and help all our kids, including mine, build a bright future here,” Emehelu said.

The New Jersey Constitution does not require the Senate to approve when the governor makes an appointment to fill a vacancy in the lieutenant governorship, and it permits the governor to appoint their deputy to head one of the state’s chief departments without Senate confirmation.

That means Monday’s appointment also makes Emehelu secretary of state, the fifth lieutenant governor in state history, and the first immigrant to hold the latter position.

Sherrill said she did not set out in search of a woman to replace Caldwell.

“I didn’t have a preconceived notion that I needed to have another woman serving here. I felt like, as governor, I had that handled,” the governor said to chuckles from an audience that included most of her cabinet.