New Jersey’s next lieutenant governor will be current Secretary of State Tahesha Way, Gothamist has learned.
Gov. Phil Murphy will announce his selection Friday morning in Newark, a source with knowledge of the decision confirmed. The source was not authorized to disclose the decision prior to the announcement. Her nomination will not require Senate confirmation.
The decision was first reported by NJ.com and the New Jersey Globe.
Way, 51, succeeds Sheila Oliver, who died Aug. 1 of an undisclosed illness at 71 years old. Oliver had been the state’s second-ever lieutenant governor, after the post was created through an amendment to the state constitution in 2006. She was both the first Black woman to lead New Jersey’s state Assembly and win statewide office.
The day of Oliver’s death, Way described her as “cherished friend, mentor, and role model to me and countless other African American women who have chosen a career in public service.”
Way, who has been secretary of state since February 2018, oversaw the 2020 election that was largely conducted via mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As secretary of state, she also oversaw business, the arts and tourism.
She chaired the state’s Complete Count Commission to encourage participation in the 2020 Census and was the first Black president of the National Association of Secretaries of State for its 2022-2023 term, and continues to serve on its board.
Way was previously an administrative law judge for the state and a member of the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, serving as its director in 2019. She’s a former special counsel for that county’s board of social services and a council member of the state Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, according to her Department of State biography.
She’s also a past board member for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research think tank.
At Brown University, Way served as vice president of the college’s NAACP chapter. She additionally has a juris…
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