Assemblyman Al Barlas (R-Cedar Grove) was re-elected to a four-year term as Essex County Republican Chairman on Saturday, which keeps him in office at least through the 2028 presidential primary.
“Our organization is comprised of dedicated, loyal, hardworking women and men who believe in our country, our party, our candidates and electing quality individuals to office,” Baras said.
He ran unopposed.
Barlas became the youngest county chair in the state in 2011 when he was elected to succeed then-State Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Cedar Grove), who did not seek re-election after twelve years in the post.
In the 2024 primary – perhaps the last with organization lines – candidates running on Barlas’ line held: U.S. Curtis Bashaw won 61%, NJ-11 congressional candidate Joseph Belnome received 85%, Sheriff candidate Nicholas Pansini took 74%, and their candidate for Register of Deeds and Mortgages, Jeffrey Polewka, took 73%.
After working as a staffer for O’Toole, State Sen. Kristin Corrado (R-Totowa), and then-Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver), Barlas was elected to the State Assembly in 2023.
Longtime Republican stalwart Mary Devon O’Brien, the Maplewood GOP chair, was re-elected vice chair; the new second vice chair is Joy Freeman, the South Ward Republican vice chair.
The O’Toole faction of the Essex GOP has maintained control since 1996, when he outsmarted the longtime chairman, John P. Renna, using a “take-their-slogan” strategy.