Mikie Sherrill’s new Number 2 is official after Lt. Gov. scandal
Shirley Emehelu is the first immigrant to serve as lieutenant governor in New Jersey.
In the wake of an sexual harassment scandal led to the resignation of the governor’s second-in-command, Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Monday introduced her choice for lieutenant governor, a Black woman and former prosecutor who oversaw last week’s election.
Shirley Emehelu, who is a Nigerian-American, is the first immigrant to serve as lieutenant governor in the state. This is also the first time the governor and lieutenant governor in New Jersey are both female.
Emehelu’s predecessor, Dale Caldwell resigned in late September, after an outside law firm investigating claims of sexual harassment and ethics violations against him concluded some of these offenses were true. Caldwell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
But when asked if gender was a consideration, Sherrill said “I didn’t have a preconceived notion that I needed to have another woman serving here. I feel like as governor, I had that handled.”
The top responsibility of the lieutenant governor is to serve as acting governor when Sherrill leaves to travel outside New Jersey — which is likely to be often as Sherrill’s national profile grows.
Sherrill said she and Emehelu served together as prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where Emehelu, as chief of Asset Recovery and Anti-Money Laundering, prosecuted financial fraud cases.
“While she was there, she also oversaw the restitution program that helped victims of crimes rebuild their lives,” Sherrill said moments before State Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner swore-in Emehelu.
The governor also praised her second-in-command’s recent service as acting Secretary of State, which oversees elections. It was another role Caldwell relinquished when he resigned, and Emehelu, formerly the state Comptroller, assumed in late September.
“By the time the polls closed on Tuesday, about 3 million New Jerseyans had voted without even a hiccup,” Sherrill said.
The Secretary of State’s Office has been under scrutiny since Sherrill disclosed in July that 6,600 non-citizens had been registered to vote through the Motor Vehicle Commission’s motor voter process in 2023 and 2024. The governor said about 400 had illegally voted.
Emehelu was employed by the law firm of Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, which Sherrill selected to investigate how the voter registration snafu happened. The investigation is ongoing.
Sherrill said it also was important to choose a candidate that understood the concerns of both the immigrant and Black communities. “I do think it was important that we had a lot of communities represented across our government,” she said.
Sherrill also acknowledged that Assembly person Verlina Reynolds Jackson, D.,-Mercer and the chair of the New Jersey Black Legislative Caucus, was a contender for the role, but on Friday took herself out of the running. The governor called Reynolds Jackson “a fantastic partner,” who wished to remain in her “powerful position“ so she could ”advance issues across the state.”
As word of Reynolds Jackson’s candidacy spread, some Black leaders and activists took to social media in the last several weeks urging the governor to select another Black man to replace Caldwell.
A week ago, John E. Harmon, president and CEO of the New Jersey African American Chamber of Commerce, posted a video said that speaking on his own behalf, Reynolds Jackson, a “hard-working” lawmaker, “had not earned the right to be the next Lt. Governor.” Harmon did not mention gender, but rather his disappointment in previous lawmakers from the Trenton area who had been elevated to higher office and “had not done enough to change the lives and or businesses,” from the community.
Addressing all of the officials serving in Sherrill’s cabinet who attended the swearing-in at the Statehouse, Emehelu said she “looked forward to working alongside Gov. Sherrill and these dedicated public servants to make life more affordable and expand opportunities for all communities — especially helping the governor meet the goals of the Black agenda and help all our kids, including mine, build a bright future.”
