TRENTON, N.J. – Attorney Michael Lavery was elected chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee (more commonly known as the “NJGOP”) on Tuesday night on a remote Zoom call.
The vote – which was conducted by remote secret ballot – was 24 votes for Lavery, nephew of embattled Ocean County powerbroker George Gilmore, and 16 for Bob Hugin, the party’s 2018 U.S. Senate nominee who entered the race at the 11th hour.
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The contest boiled down to a proxy battle between the party’s two major 2021 primary candidates – Doug Steinhardt and Jack Ciattarelli – who backed opposing chair prospects. Steinhardt, the outgoing NJGOP chairman, had handpicked Lavery as his successor; Ciattarelli endorsed Hugin after the ex-big pharma executive began calling committee members to solicit votes.