Lt. Gov. of NEW Jersey Her family has confirmed that Sheila Oliver passed away at the age of 71.
Here is all the information you need to know about Sheila Oliver’s political career and personal life.
Sheila Oliver, who was she?
After taking office in 2018, Sheila Y. Oliver held the position until her passing on August 1st, 2023.
She attended Weequahic High School, which is best known as the alma mater of author Philip Roth and was founded in Newark.
Oliver earned a degree in social work from Columbia University after graduating with honors from Lincoln University.
Prior to becoming a member of the East Orange School District board in 1994, she held positions in academia and social services.
Oliver presided over the board from 1999 to 2000 after Robert L. Bowser rejected her bid to run as the Democrats’ candidate for mayor of East Orange.
The New Jersey Democratic apparatus supported Oliver in his bid to represent the 34th District, which includes East Orange, in the State Assembly in 2003.
She supported Republican Governor Chris Christie’s cuts to public-sector pensions and benefits while she was speaker of the assembly from 2010 to 2014.
Oliver was criticized by the police and fire unions for introducing the bill despite telling them it was still being considered.
Oliver struck a deal to stay in office with Senator Nicholas Sacco, Essex County boss Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., and South Jersey boss George Norcross after Joseph Cryan botched a coup to remove her.
In the 2013 special election to fill Frank Lautenberg’s seat in the US Senate, Oliver ran against Cory Booker, but Booker won with just 4% of the vote.
In the 2017 race for governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy chose Oliver as his running mate, defeating Republican rivals Kim Guadagno and Carlos Rendo.
Oliver signed laws pertaining to youth justice, wage protections, and caregivers after being sworn in as lieutenant governor.
Oliver was viewed as a potential replacement for Murphy in 2025 after their re-election in 2021.
Sheila Oliver passed away when?
Oliver, who was serving as acting governor of New Jersey while Governor Phil Murphy was away, passed away on August 1, 2023, according to her family.
The Honorable Sheila Y. Oliver, Lieutenant Governor of the State of New Jersey, passed away, the statement said, with “extreme sadness and a heavy heart.”
In addition to being a renowned public servant, she was also our beloved daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and hero.
Please respect the privacy of the Oliver family during this trying time as they mourn their cherished Sheila, as we try to process this profound loss.
“Sheila Y. Oliver’s legacy of commitment, service, and inspiration is left behind.
“We will never forget her dedication to the people of New Jersey or her ceaseless efforts to better the neighborhood.”
Murphy lamented Oliver’s passing and hailed her as a trailblazer.
Lieutenant Governor Oliver “was already a trailblazer in every sense of the word when I selected her to be my running mate in 2017,” Murphy said in a statement.
She was only the second Black woman in American history to preside over a house of a state legislature, and she had already made history as the first Black woman to hold the office of Speaker of the General Assembly.
“I was aware that she was the perfect co-leader for me to lead the State of New Jersey because of her many years of public service. The choice was the best one I have ever made.
On Monday, Oliver was taken urgently to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, for an unspecified cause.
Oliver was receiving medical care, according to a statement from Murphy’s spokesperson, who declined to provide any additional information.
Was Sheila Oliver married?
Sheila Oliver never got married and never had kids.
She compared New Jersey residents to her family.
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