Morris County Republican Chair Laura Marie Ali is the new Chair of the Chairs, a group of GOP leaders of all 21 counties.
The move could help State Sen. Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), one of four GOP gubernatorial candidates; Ali spoke at Ali’s campaign kickoff in January. But Ali also allowed Republican county chairs to avoid a fight over the post between allies of two other candidates, Jack Ciattarelli and Bill Spadea.
In March, Ali saved county organization lines for the Republicans – perhaps for the last time.
After U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi issued a preliminary injunction moving to office block ballots for the June 2024 primary, Ali and Peter King, the Morris GOP vice chair and the attorney for the county GOP organization, asked Quaraishi to verify that the ruling affected both parties. Days later, Quraishi clarified that since no Republicans joined Rep. Andy Kim’s lawsuit as plaintiffs, the GOP could keep its line.
She succeeds Hudson County GOP Chairman Jose Arango, who was term-limited.
Ali was joined on the unopposed slate by Linwood Donelson of Salem as first vice chairman, Gabe Plumer of Hunterdon as second vice chairman, and Tracey DiFrancesco of Somerset as secretary. All received two-year terms. She becomes the first woman to hold the post.
Ali became acting county chair in November 2019 after Ron DeFilippis stepped down for health reasons. He had won the post in 2018 by a narrow four-vote margin, defeating Rob Zwigard by 242 to 239. She has not had opposition in any of her county chair races.