Monmouth's Hanlon mulls bid for NJGOP chair
Could Monmouth's secret weapon be the antidote for a party on life support?
Monmouth County - Monmouth County Clerk and County GOP Co-Chair Christine Giordano Hanlon has been reported as considering a bid to chair the New Jersey Republican Party. After a statewide shellacking on Election Day, New Jersey republicans have been cast to the political wilderness and are looking for a leader that will reshape and reinvigorate the party.
Hanlon is expected to face former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, and Rosemary Becchi, who lost to then-Congresswoman Sherrill in 2020. Becchi is also the founder of Jersey1st, a think tank supported by Americans for Prosperity, a project of the notably anti-Trump Koch Industries.
Hanlon, a former prosecutor and distinguished attorney, has served as Monmouth County Clerk since 2015, winning each election cycle overwhelmingly. She has also served as a commissioner of the Monmouth County Board of Elections and as a state committeewoman. Hanlon recently won her election as Monmouth’s records chief by over 42,000 votes. She also fended off a primary challenge this year with ease.
As Mikie Sherrill’s transition team takes shape, staffed by a who’s-who’s of far-left technocrats and ideologues, the NJGOP will need to act as the top foil to incoming governor Sherill while also serving as the chief architect of rebuilding a party desperate for a win and an identity. Hanlon, alongside Chairman Shaun Golden, is largely seen as the driving force behind cementing Monmouth as republican stronghold over the last decade. Monmouth insiders consider her an indispensable strategist and the chief architect of county campaigns.
Hanlon is a massive proponent of digital media in both political and public service spheres. Under Hanlon, the Clerk’s Office launched free mobile elections app and comprehensive website for all of the County Clerk’s services, digitizing paper records and increasing electronic filing of property records. Hanlon will most likely leverage a dynamic digital campaign to combat Sherrill and Trenton Democrats and grow the party to attract crucial voting blocs, particularly Gen Z voters and younger in the same way that helped President Trump to return to the White House.
It is unclear when the vote among NJGOP state committee members will take place.
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