New Jersey governor’s showdown with her No. 2 escalates over his alleged inappropriate behavior

New Jersey’s Democratic lieutenant governor has resigned after the governor demanded he step down over allegations of inappropriate behavior with women (AP) — New Jersey’s Democratic governor worked Friday to sever ties with her own lieutenant governor after he was accused of inappropriate behavior with women, giving him an ultimatum to resign by the end of the day and quickly end a scandal that threatened to be a drag on her fledgling administration. Dale Caldwell comes weeks ahead of midterm elections that will decide who controls Congress.

State Republicans have hammered Sherrill for weeks on the investigation into Caldwell, who oversees elections as New Jersey’s secretary of state and also serves as acting governor in her absence. Sherrill scheduled a news conference Friday afternoon at the State House in Trenton to address the situation. She had called for Caldwell to resign on Thursday after a law firm she hired concluded he behaved inappropriately around women.

The Democrat, who had hand-picked Caldwell for the role as her second-in-command, said his “serious, repeated violations of state policy” continued even after multiple warnings and trainings. But Caldwell has disputed the allegations and has shown no signs he might leave office willingly. In New Jersey, a governor can’t simply fire the lieutenant governor, as the post is independently elected.

Lieutenant governors can be impeached and removed from office by the Legislature, and the governor can strip a lieutenant governor of certain duties and responsibilities, effectively sidelining them from the administration. A Methodist pastor, Caldwell served as president of Centenary University in Hackettstown before Sherrill tapped him as her running mate last year, making him first in line to lead the state should she die, be removed from office or become incapacitated. Kristin Corrado questioned Sherrill’s judgment over allowing Caldwell to fill in for the governor when she’s away, even as his conduct was being investigated.

“New Jersey residents deserve leadership, transparency, and answers from their government,” she said Friday. “So far, we have gotten none.” Messages left with leaders of the Democrat-led Legislature went unanswered Friday morning. In a report dated Wednesday but released Thursday, the lawyers said Caldwell had committed several violations of state policy.

It said Caldwell, 66, had made an advance toward a staff member’s friend and when he w…