New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver still hospitalized, Scutari is acting governor

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver remained unable to carry out her duties as acting governor on Tuesday after she was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue.

Oliver was acting as governor while Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy is out of the country on vacation.

Senate President Nicholas Scutari, a fellow Democrat, is acting in Oliver’s place as mandated under the state constitution. No public events are currently on his schedule.

Oliver, 71, was taken to Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston on Monday, according to Murphy’s spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna. Gunaratna said Oliver was receiving “medical care,” but declined on Tuesday to elaborate further.

Murphy’s office has said he’s out of the country on a family vacation in Italy, where he owns a home. He is set to return Aug. 13.

Oliver has served as the state’s second lieutenant governor since 2018. She concurrently serves as the head of the Department of Community Affairs, which coordinates state aid to towns and cities and oversees code enforcement.

In 2010, she became the first African-American woman to serve as speaker of the state Assembly in the state’s history.

She had served in the Assembly since 2004 and served on the Essex County board of chosen freeholders from 1996 to 1999.