SHIRLEY EMEHELU BECOMES FIRST-EVER IMMIGRANT LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IN NEW JERSEY, USA

November 10, 2026 • Dons Eze • 1 min read

New Jersey reached a major political milestone on Monday, as Governor. Mikie Sherrill appointed Shirley U. Emehelu to serve as the state’s next Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State.
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The move marks the first time in New Jersey history that women will simultaneously hold the state’s two highest executive offices.

Emehelu officially assumed both roles on November 9 after previously serving as Acting Secretary of State, where she recently oversaw the administration of New Jersey’s latest elections.

Prior to her role as Acting Secretary of State, Emehelu served as Acting State Comptroller at the start of the Sherrill administration.

From 2022 to 2024, she served as the state’s Executive Assistant Attorney General.

Before entering state government, Emehelu spent nine years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

A graduate of both Yale University and Yale Law School, Emehelu also previously clerked for U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Dons Eze

DONS EZE, PhD, Political Philosopher and Journalist of over four decades standing, worked in several newspaper houses across the country, and rose to the positions of Editor and General Manager. A UNESCO Fellow in Journalism, Dr. Dons Eze, a prolific writer and author of many books, attended several courses on Journalism and Communication in both Nigeria and overseas, including a Postgraduate Course on Journalism at Warsaw, Poland; Strategic Communication and Practical Communication Approach at RIPA International, London, the United Kingdom, among others.