New Jersey lieutenant governor dies while serving as acting governor

Democratic Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver of New Jersey has died while serving as acting governor of the state, according to a report on Tuesday.

Oliver was first elected in 2018 on a joint ticket with Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and had been acting as Governor while Murphy was vacationing in Italy. She was abruptly hospitalized on Monday due to an unspecified “long illness” and later died, according to a report by the New Jersey Globe.

“I knew then that her decades of public service made her the ideal partner for me to lead the State of New Jersey,” Murphy said in a statement, adding that ”[i]t was the best decision I ever made.”

Murphy and Oliver were narrowly reelected in 2022 against the Republican nominee, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattareli, in a race that gained national attention.

Following Oliver’s hospitalization, New Jersey State Senate President Nick Scutari, a Democrat, became the acting governor and will remain so until Murphy returns to the state.

Oliver, who turned 71 in July, previously served as the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, the lower house of the state legislature. She concurrently served as the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs while lieutenant governor.

The Office of the Governor of New Jersey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!