The next person Gov. Mikie Sherrill picks as lieutenant governor could become governor without ever receiving a vote from the public or the Legislature, and two Republican lawmakers want to change that.
Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio and State Sen. Doug Steinhardt (R-Lopatcong) are proposing a constitutional amendment that would require a governor’s nominee to fill a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office to win majority approval from both houses of the Legislature before taking office.
The proposal, ACR-157, would essentially bring New Jersey’s succession process in line with the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which requires congressional confirmation when a president fills a vacancy in the vice presidency.
“Right now, one person gets to choose someone who could become governor tomorrow, with no confirmation hearing, no legislative vote and no vote of the people,” DiMaio said. “That is too much power concentrated in one person’s hands.”
The proposal comes as Sherrill searches for a replacement for Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, who resigned on September 25 after a scathing internal investigation substantiated allegations of workplace harassment and ethics violations.
Under the New Jersey Constitution, Sherrill has 45 days to appoint a new lieutenant governor to serve the remainder of Caldwell’s term. No legislative confirmation is required.
Caldwell’s departure marks the second vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office in three years. Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver died in August 2023, prompting then-Gov. Phil Murphy to appoint Secretary of State Tahesha Way to replace her.
“The lieutenant governor is elected by more than 6 million New Jerseyans. When that office becomes vacant, the governor should not have unilateral authority to choose the replacement,” Steinhardt said. “The Legislature, which represents the people of every corner of New Jersey, should have a meaningful role in filling the vacancy and providing a necessary check and balance.”
New Jersey did not have a lieutenant governor until 2010. Voters approved creation of the office in 2005 following two gubernatorial vacancies in four years, when Senate presidents Donald DiFrancesco and Richard Codey became acting governor after Christine Todd Whitman and James E. McGreevey left office.
The DiMaio-Steinhardt proposal draws on another succession problem that confronted the federal government for nearly two centuries.
Before the 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967, there was no mechanism for replacing a vice president who died, resigned or succeeded to the presidency.
When Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, Vice President Harry Truman became president, leaving the vice presidency vacant for nearly four years. After John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson became president and served the remainder of Kennedy’s term without a vice president.
The 25th Amendment changed that by allowing the president to nominate a vice president whenever the office becomes vacant, subject to majority approval by both houses of Congress.
That provision has been used only twice.
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in October 1973 amid a federal corruption investigation, and President Richard Nixon nominated House Republican Leader Gerald Ford to replace him. Ford was confirmed by both houses of Congress.
Ten months later, Nixon resigned over Watergate and Ford became president. Ford then nominated former New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller as vice president, and Congress confirmed him.
The extraordinary sequence meant that for more than two years, the United States had a president and vice president who had been selected through the 25th Amendment process rather than elected to those offices by voters.
“If the president of the United States cannot unilaterally choose a new vice president, why should a New Jersey governor have unilateral authority to choose the person next in line to become governor?” DiMaio said.
The state constitution currently requires a lieutenant governor to meet the same basic qualifications as the governor: at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least 20 years and a New Jersey resident for seven years.
“Those qualifications tell us whether someone is legally eligible to hold the office,” DiMaio said. “They tell us almost nothing about whether that person should be one heartbeat away from running the state.”
Way had already undergone Senate confirmation as secretary of state before Murphy selected her to succeed Oliver, but there was no separate confirmation vote for lieutenant governor.
“At least Tahesha Way had been publicly vetted and confirmed by the Senate for her cabinet position,” DiMaio said. “A future appointee could walk into the lieutenant governor’s office without ever receiving a single vote from the Legislature or the public. That makes no sense.”
Under the amendment, the governor would retain the power to select a nominee, but that person could not take office without majority votes in both the Assembly and Senate.
“This isn’t about taking the choice away from the governor,” DiMaio said. “The governor nominates. The Legislature confirms. That is a basic check and balance for an office with enormous responsibility.”
A constitutional amendment must receive three-fifths approval in both houses during one legislative year, or majority approval in two consecutive legislative years, before going before voters for final approval.
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