New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver lies in state in Newark
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver is lying in state in Newark at the Essex County Historic Courthouse.
Her casket arrived from Trenton on Friday morning where her family was waiting.
It was a final trip back home for the Newark native.
Newark is the city where she grew up and went to high school. It's the place that gave her the strength to let her light shine as a woman and political leader. It is where her friends remember her fondly and will never let her work be forgotten.
"I always sit back, and I wonder these last couple of days, did everyone really recognize the brilliance the power that that woman had," New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz said.
Her funeral will take place on Saturday in Newark.
On Thursday, her flag-draped casket laid in state at the New Jersey State House Rotunda in Trenton.
Governor Phil Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy attended a private visitation before the public was allowed in.
They were in Newark Friday as well, along with other colleagues, family, and community members.
The trailblazing lawmaker died last week after she was admitted to the hospital with an undisclosed medical issue.
On Saturday, there will be a funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark where Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver her eulogy.
Murphy ordered flags to be flown at half-staff for a month and commissioned a portrait of her that he said would hang in the statehouse.
In addition to serving as Murphy's top deputy, stepping in while he was out of the state, Oliver also oversaw the Department of Community Affairs, which coordinates state aid to towns and cities and supervises code enforcement.
In 2021, she signed a bill that established a pilot program to overhaul the state's juvenile justice system in four cities and that aimed to reintegrate young people into their communities. Another measure she signed in 2021 revived a defunct fund for "urban enterprise zones" aimed at driving economic development in cities through lower sales tax rates.
The state constitution requires Murphy to name a successor within 45 days of the vacancy. He so far has not nominated anyone.
Senate President Nicholas Scutari will serve as acting governor if Murphy leaves the state or is incapacitated in the interim.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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