No rival emerges for Laura Ali in Morris GOP chair contest

Laura Marie Ali will get another term as the Morris County Republican chair after nobody filed to challenge her in Saturday’s election.

That means Ali will continue to lead one of the state’s largest Republican counties through the 2025 gubernatorial primary.

The filing deadline was at noon today.

Ali announced on Sunday that she would call a party leadership election in 2023 in order to reset a schedule disrupted by a canceled election in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.   Her term had not expired until next year, but she wanted to obviate any appearance otherwise.

“With the good of the party in mind and the hope of bringing all of this negativity to an end – so we can become one united Morris County Republican Party – I am proposing the following: I, along with our MCRC Executive Board, will sacrifice a year of our term and run for re-election now,” she said.

Now, with no opponent, she expects Morris County Republicans to unite behind the party organization.

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 a vote of 242 to 239.

In 2020, she won the post without opposition after Zwigard and former Morris County Commissioner John Inglesino declined to run.

Ali was unopposed in 2022 after 87% of Morris GOP municipal chairs endorsed her for re-election.