Bergen County GOP Chairman Jack Zisa told party leaders tonight that he will not seek re-election and is backing Jack DeLorenzo, the former mayor of Hasbrouck Heights, as his successor.
DeLorenzo has the support of the county organization nominating committee. The party vice chair, Margaret Frontera, is seeking re-election.
Glen Rock businessman Barry Wilkes, a candidate for State Assembly in 2023, is also mulling a bid for county chairman.
A former mayor of Hackensack, Zisa ascended to the top party post six years ago after Paul DiGaetano stepped down.
Out of power for more than a decade, Bergen Republicans have struggled to find candidates in recent years. In 2022, they ran Todd Caliguire, a perennial candidate who hasn’t won an election since the 1990s, for county executive. Last year, an Assembly candidate in the 36th district had a history of legal problems, including charges that he smeared feces on the doors of a nursery school; he said he was angry that Obama had been elected president.