Gov. Mikie Sherrill says her administration will no longer tolerate a culture of silence, delayed accountability or misconduct being swept under the rug in state government.
TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Mikie Sherrill says the resignation of Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell is part of a broader effort to change what she described as a longstanding culture in Trenton of ignoring misconduct, protecting institutions and leaving employees to deal with the consequences.
Speaking Friday after accepting Caldwell’s resignation, Sherrill said the state government she leads will handle substantiated allegations differently.
“That is requiring a culture change in Trenton,” Sherrill said. “We can no longer tolerate the culture of silence, sweeping things under the rug, or kicking the can down the road.”
“New Jerseyans deserve fairness and accountability,” she added.
Her remarks followed the release of an independent investigation that found Caldwell violated state policy, including a substantiated finding of sexual harassment and separate ethics violations. Sherrill called for his resignation Thursday, and Caldwell resigned the following afternoon.
Sherrill Says Employees Previously Expected Complaints To Go Nowhere
Sherrill went further during questioning from reporters, describing what she said was a deeply ingrained expectation inside state government that allegations involving powerful officials would not result in meaningful action.
“There has been a culture and trend probably since the birth of our nation to sweep this under the rug,” Sherrill said.
She said longtime State House workers had told her they never expected to see serious allegations handled publicly and decisively.
“You can speak to numerous people who’ve worked in the State House for decades who felt this day would never come,” Sherrill said, describing a belief that allegations would not be taken seriously and employees would instead be left to quit or move on.
“That is not the kind of government I’m running,” she said. “When I say there is a culture change taking place, I mean it.”
The comments represent one of Sherrill’s clearest attempts yet to distinguish her administration from what she sees as entrenched practices in New Jersey politics.
Questions Remain About Why The Investigation Stayed Private
The governor also faced questions about whether her own administration had moved quickly enough.
The investigation into Caldwell began months before its findings were made public, prompting criticism from Republican lawmakers who questioned why the matter remained confidential for so long.
Earlier in September, Sherrill defended the privacy surrounding the investigation, saying the administration had obligations both to people who come forward with complaints and to those accused while a review remains underway.
At Friday’s press conference, reporters pressed her again on the timeline and whether she regretted that the public did not learn about the investigation sooner.
Sherrill said she was only broadly informed of some findings at the beginning of the week and read the finalized report Thursday morning.
Her administration has maintained that the investigation needed to be completed independently before conclusions were released publicly.
Sherrill Turns Criticism Back On Republicans
When asked specifically about criticism from legislative Republicans over the three-month period in which the investigation was not public, Sherrill did not concede that the administration had mishandled the process.
Instead, she turned the criticism toward Republicans and President Donald Trump, arguing that GOP lawmakers had spent years defending conduct at the federal level that she considers far more serious.
That exchange injected a partisan edge into what had otherwise been framed by the governor as an issue of workplace conduct, ethics and institutional accountability.
Sherrill’s prepared remarks were more focused on the standard she says her administration intends to apply internally.
“Public service — holding the public trust — is a privilege, not a right,” she said in her official remarks.
She said public officials must serve residents rather than their own interests and be held to the same ethical expectations regardless of title.
Caldwell Disputes The Findings
Caldwell has not accepted the investigation’s conclusions.
His attorney, Thomas Calcagni, said Caldwell resigned to end what he called a campaign to damage his reputation and described the report’s findings as unfounded. Caldwell and his attorney have indicated they are considering legal options to challenge the investigation.
That dispute means Sherrill’s broader claim of bringing accountability to Trenton will continue to be tested against questions about process, transparency and how future allegations inside her administration are handled.
For now, though, the governor is openly framing Caldwell’s departure as something larger than the removal of a single official.
“In New Jersey, I will not accept a culture that sweeps misconduct under the rug,” Sherrill said when she released the report Thursday. “We have to be better than that — people expect and deserve better.”
The episode has quickly become an early test of Sherrill’s stated standards for New Jersey government, with the governor making clear that she wants Caldwell’s resignation viewed as evidence that the old way of handling serious internal complaints is changing.