Sheila Y. Oliver (14 July 1952-1 August 2023) was Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey (D) from 16 January 2018, succeeding Kim Guadagno.
Biography[]
Sheila Y. Oliver was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, and she served in administrative positions in the East Orange school district before serving on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1996 to 1999. In 1997, she lost the East Orange mayoral election by a mere 51 votes. In 2003, she was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly, and she represented the 34th district from 13 January 2004 to 9 January 2018; from 2010 to 2014, she served as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly. She was the second woman and African-American to hold the latter post, and she backed Governor Chris Christie's reforms to public workers' pensions and benefits. In 2013, she placed fourth in the special election to succeed the late senator Frank Lautenberg, but she was elected as Lieutenant-Governor of New Jersey in the 2017 gubernatorial election, serving as Phil Murphy's running mate. She served as acting governor from 28 to 31 July 2023 while Murphy was vacationing in Italy, but she suffered a medial event on 31 July and was hospitalized in Livingston, leading to Nicholas Scutari stepping in as acting governor. She died the following day, on 1 August 2023, at the age of 71.