After twenty years as the Republican National Committeewoman from New Jersey, Virginia Haines has decided not to seek re-election to a fifth term, the New Jersey Globe has learned.
Bernards Township Committeewoman Janice Fields, the GOP state committeewoman from Somerset County, has been making calls seeking support to succeed Haines.
But the big fight might be for the other seat, where Republican National Committeeman Bill Palatucci could face a challenge in his bid for re-election.
Palatucci is a close ally of former Gov. Chris Christie, and his opposition to Donald Trump’s candidacy is creating some political problems among the 42 Republican State Committee members who elect New Jersey’s two national committee members. Palatucci was a Trump cheerleader in New Jersey and elsewhere until Christie broke with the former president after the 2020 election.
He has no announced opponent, but Atlantic County GOP Chairman Donald Purdy is considered a possible opponent.
As recently as three weeks ago, Palatucci was involved in discussions of an independent presidential run by Christie on the No Labels ticket. Christie had come close to entering the race against Trump.
Palatucci had backed Christie’s bid for the presidency this cycle, and ran his super PAC, Tell It Like It Is.
In 2022, Palatucci was one of just a handful of Republican National Committee members who voted against a resolution censuring Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) on Friday for her involvement in an investigation of the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The election is scheduled for June, but a recent RNC rules change that starts national committee member terms in January has caused Palatucci to lobby in support of moving his election until after the November presidential election, likely viewing a Trump loss as helpful to extending his own tenure.
In 2016, Palatucci sought to dump Haines from the ticket and replace her with Bergen County GOP State Committeewoman Darlene Shotmeyer.
Shotmeyer had been mentioned as a possible candidate this year, but has decided not to run, the New Jersey Globe has learned.
Haines was elected to the RNC seat in 2004, ousting Judith Stanley Coleman, a ten-year incumbent and longtime Republican fundraiser. Haines was elected by a 23-4 votes; Coleman’s loss followed the defeat of a key ally, Monmouth County GOP Chairman William Dowd after eighteen years in office.
A former assemblywoman and state lottery director, Haines has served as an Ocean County Commissioner since 2017; she is on the outs with her own ex-ally, George Gilmore, the GOP county chairman.
Palatucci had faced a challenge from former Morris County Republican Chairman John Sette in 2020; Sette eventually opted not to run.
He first won the national committee seat in 2010 after six-term incumbent David Norcross resigned two months after his wife, Laurie Michel, the daughter of fomer House Minority Leader Bob Michel, received a $172,016-a-year job at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at Christie’s direction.
The Christie inner circle has always been sharply divided on Palatucci. Former New Jersey attorney general David Samson, an extraordinarily close Christie friend, couldn’t stand Palatucci and frequently referred to him in meetings as “Giovanni.”