GOP leaders must decide whether Bill Palatucci, a close ally of former Gov. Chris Christie, is eligible to be the Republican National Committeeman from New Jersey after staunchly opposing Donald Trump’s return to the presidency.
Eight Republican state committee members and county chairs told the New Jersey Globe that Palatucci promised to resign if Trump won the election. RNC rules allow Palatucci to be removed for refusing to endorse the nominee.
In June, Palatucci defeated Atlantic County GOP Chairman Donald Purdy by two votes, 22-20, to win re-election to the RNC seat he’s held since 2010. The race was a showdown between Trump, who endorsed Purdy, and Christie, who attended the state committee meeting to whip votes for Palatucci.
Now that the election is over – and Trump did far better in New Jersey than many expected — there’s a renewed interest in showing Palatucci the door.
“I think we’d be better off with a national committeeman who was a full-throated supporter of President Trump,” said Mike Donohue, the Cape May County Republican chairman.
Purdy said Palatucci told him he would resign if Trump won. Some party leaders who were there and heard the exchange confirmed it.
“On the night that we had the vote, he stood in front of me and several county chairmen and said that Trump is a disappointment,” Purdy stated. “He said he blames Trump for wrecking the way his own daughters view the Republican Party. He said he would resign.”
Purdy said he asked Palatucci why he wanted to keep the job, and he responded, “I’m banking on Trump losing.”
The rub is while Palatucci never publicly endorsed Trump, he never overtly backed anyone else. Palatucci can now claim he was with the president-elect, although party insiders say that argument has little credibility.
Ultimately, it may be up to the RNC to decide whether they want to enforce Rule No. 4 (b), which states that “the Republican National Committee shall have the power to declare vacant the seat of any member who refuses to support the Republican nominee for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States.” If they declare a vacancy, the 42 members of the New Jersey Republican State Committee would need to hold a special election to fill the seat.
Palatucci backed Christie in his bid for the 2024 presidential nomination and chaired Christie’s super PAC. After the former New Jersey governor exited the race, Palatucci actively participated in discussions about Christie mounting a general election White House bid as an independent as the “No Labels” candidate.
He was among a small group of national committee members who opposed a resolution in 2022 censuring then-Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) for their involvement in investigating the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Cheney and Kinzinger both endorsed Kamala Harris and campaigned for her. Christie never endorsed anyone and said he would not vote for Trump.
“The one thing I know for sure now is I am not voting for Trump under any circumstances. If he’s the only person on the ballot. I’m not voting for Trump because I know him too well, and he is wholly unfit to be president of the United States in every way you can think of,” Christie said earlier this year.
Earlier this year, Palatucci was partly blamed for New Jersey’s loss of 40 delegate seats for violating a Republican National Committee rule that required delegate selection to be completed by May 31. He was on the rules committee that voted in favor of the deadline.