New Jersey's lieutenant governor dies

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, a trailblazing political leader, has died, according to her family and the governor's office.

Oliver, 71, was admitted to the hospital Monday for unspecified reasons. She had been serving as acting governor with Gov. Phil Murphy on an overseas vacation. But she was unable to perform her duties and transferred the acting governor powers to Senate President Nick Scutari.

Oliver served as New Jersey's second-in-command since 2018. But she made history before that as the first Black female Assembly speaker and the second Black woman in the nation’s history to lead a house of a state legislature.

Murphy said he chose her as his running mate due to her experience.

"I knew then that her decades of public service made her the ideal partner for me to lead the State of New Jersey," he said in a statement. "It was the best decision I ever made."