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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/25\/nyregion\/new-jersey-lieutenant-governor-resigns-dale-caldwell.html?emc=edit_na_20260925&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=227077",
    "parsed_content": "AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTEmbattled New Jersey Lt. Governor Resigns After Ethics InquiryDale G. Caldwell, a Methodist minister and former university president, quit one day after the release of a report that found he had crossed ethical lines.Listen \u00b7 6:27 min Share full articleNew Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale G. Caldwell stepped down Friday, a day after a report found that he had violated ethics guidelines. Credit...James Estrin\/The New York TimesBy Tracey TullySept. 25, 2026, 2:37 p.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Lt. Gov. Dale G. Caldwell of New Jersey said Friday he was stepping down, a day after investigators concluded he had tried to use his position to secure a promotion for a girlfriend and dates for himself.Dr. Caldwell, 66, had been in the role for only eight months. And he and his lawyer, Thomas Calcagni, had pushed back strenuously against the findings in a report commissioned by his boss, Gov. Mikie Sherrill. Investigators who interviewed 17 people concluded that Dr. Caldwell\u2019s behavior constituted sexual harassment and violated workplace standards.\u201cI\u2019m not resigning because of the report,\u201d Dr. Caldwell said in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s false. I\u2019m resigning because I don\u2019t want to be a distraction to the administration.\u201d\u201cI\u2019m supportive of the Sherrill administration,\u201d he added. \u201cI want her to be as successful as possible.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMs. Sherrill, a first-term Democrat, had called on Dr. Caldwell to resign by Friday, citing a pattern of behavior and unsuccessful attempts to get him to adhere more closely to the state\u2019s ethics guidelines and code of conduct. She has scheduled a 2:45 p.m. news conference, where she is expected to formally announce Dr. Caldwell\u2019s resignation.The investigation began after an anonymous letter, sent in May, accused Dr. Caldwell of being \u201cparticularly shameless in handing out his state business cards and asking women out on dates.\u201d The letter, from a \u201cConcerned NJ Resident,\u201d also detailed three times when Dr. Caldwell had brought nonpaying guests to events.\u201cThe woman he brought with him demanded to be seated at the head table even though she arrived unexpected and without a ticket\u201d to an April women\u2019s leadership luncheon in West Orange, N.J., the letter stated. \u201cThis incident was disruptive to the event.\u201dLawyers for a firm Ms. Sherrill hired to investigate the claims also found that Dr. Caldwell, a former president of Centenary University, had used sexually charged language while riding with a female aide in his state vehicle. He had also recommended that a woman he was dating be promoted, according to the report, but did not disclose that the two were in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship.\u201cNo one was pushing anybody,\u201d he said, noting that, in an email about the promotion, he also stated: \u201cPlease share her information as you see fit.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cI was told they wanted good people,\u201d Dr. Caldwell said. \u201cI said, \u2018Here\u2019s a good person.\u2019 \u201dMs. Sherrill seemed particularly troubled that at least some of the incidents took place after Dr. Caldwell had been retrained on the state\u2019s ethics guidelines.\u201cThe ethical lapses persisted despite multiple warnings and trainings,\u201d she said Thursday in a statement as she released the 61-page report.\u201cI\u2019ve seen firsthand how a hostile culture can undermine everyone\u2019s ability to succeed,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s insidious and ruptures the trust within an organization.\u201dDr. Caldwell and his lawyer had both suggested that the claims were overblown. Late Thursday, in a strongly worded, two-page rebuttal to the report\u2019s finding, his lawyer, Mr. Calcagni, intimated that the staff member who recounted the tale in Dr. Caldwell\u2019s car had ulterior reasons for reporting the incident. She had told investigators that Dr. Caldwell, after being rebuffed for a date with her friend, had complained that ambitious women were misguided in their search for \u201cyoung sperm.\u201dDr. Caldwell denies ever making the statement.\u201cThe accuser\u2019s motives were never tested,\u201d Mr. Calcagni wrote, \u201cand the lieutenant governor\u2019s and other eyewitnesses\u2019 accounts were discounted if not entirely disregarded.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTIn May, in a written response to the anonymous letter, Dr. Caldwell, who is Black, had suggested that race and gender were at play. \u201cUnfortunately, in this current political environment, false accusations, especially against people of color, seem to be commonplace,\u201d he wrote.Neither he nor his lawyer restated that claim this week. But as the political standoff brewed, some of the state\u2019s most powerful Democratic politicians began publicly endorsing Ms. Sherrill\u2019s decision to seek Dr. Caldwell\u2019s resignation.The state\u2019s two Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, urged Dr. Caldwell to resign, as did the mayor of Jersey City, N.J., and members of New Jersey\u2019s House delegation.\u201cGovernor Sherrill is absolutely right,\u201d Mr. Booker, who is also Black, wrote on X. \u201cThe conduct described in the investigative report is totally unacceptable. For the sake of our state Lt Governor Caldwell should resign.\u201dThe investigation, and questions about how it had been handled, have engulfed state politics for weeks.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe position of lieutenant governor was created by referendum in 2005, and Dr. Caldwell was only the fourth person to serve in the role. He stood in as governor when Ms. Sherrill was away and also oversaw the Department of State, which is responsible for all elections.Those responsibilities made the timing of the inquiry particularly problematic for Ms. Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who has said that she hoped to use her decisive victory last year to influence national Democratic politics ahead of this fall\u2019s midterm elections.Even after she initiated the inquiry, Ms. Sherrill repeatedly left Dr. Caldwell in charge when she traveled, a decision that privately drew criticism from her Democratic allies in New Jersey. Last month, Ms. Sherrill had appeared in Massachusetts and New Hampshire with fellow veterans that she had endorsed as she talked about using her moderate brand of politics to reinvigorate the Democratic Party.But she had not left the metropolitan New York region since Sept. 4, when the investigation into Dr. Caldwell was first revealed by The New Jersey Globe.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-25T18:37:30+00:00",
    "author_name": "Tracey Tully",
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    "ai_headline": "Embattled New Jersey Lt. Governor Resigns After Ethics Inquiry",
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    "ai_excerpt": "New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale G. Caldwell resigned Friday, a day after a report found he violated ethics guidelines by trying to use his position to secure a promotion for a girlfriend and dates for himself. Caldwell, who served for only eight months, denies the report's findings but stated he did not want to be a distraction to the administration.",
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