New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver dead at 71

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, the first black woman to serve as speaker of the state Assembly, died Tuesday after being hospitalized with an undisclosed illness.

Oliver, 71, was serving as acting governor this week while Gov. Phil Murphy was vacationing in Italy.

She was admitted to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston on Monday, Murphy’s office announced.

Oliver, a Democrat from Essex County, rose to the post of Assembly speaker in 2010 before losing the seat to Vincent Pietro in 2013, Fox16 reported.

While serving as acting governor in Murphy’s absence, she signed a number of bills that included a pilot program to revamp the state’s juvenile justice system in four Garden State cities, the outlet reported.

Oliver became lieutenant governor in 2018, and also served as the head of the Department of Community Affairs.

Prior to her election to the state Assembly, she served on the Essex County Board of Freeholders from 1996 until 1999.

“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. “It was the best decision I ever made.”

Following her hospital admission earlier this week, Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) acted in Oliver’s place, as per the state constitution.

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