The couny line may be waning and could soon become extinct across the Garden State, but it’s still very much alive in Bergen County (on the Republican side of the aisle) where incumbent GOP Chairman Jack Zisa reportedly kicked at least dozens of locally-supported committee candidates off of the line this week without any apparent provocation.
Save Jersey has learned that incumbents in Fair Lawn, Mahwah, Paramus, and Wyckoff were among those booted by Zisa who, uncoincidentally, is expected to face a contested reelection vote this summer assuming the embattled chairman even seeks another term as leader of the beleaguered county organization. The summary political executions of long-time committee members sparked outrage in Republican circles.
“With their threats and low grade thuggery, Jack Zisa and his team are no better than Phil and Tammy Murphy, whose corrupt actions may have ended the ‘line’ forever,” said one Bergen GOP insider when reached for comment by Save Jersey. “The only difference is that the Murphys had real power to give away whereas Jack Zisa has left us with a graveyard of good candidates who could have won with a strong Bergen County Republican Organization.”
In Fair Lawn, for example, some local party-backed candidates were absent from the list of county-backed members while others were labeled as as “pending” which could indicate an active challenge.
Many of those denied “the line” appeared to be opponents – or at least unsupportive – of Zisa’s regime which has come under fire (ironically) for selecting poorly vetted and deeply defective candidates including, most recently, a man who smeared poop on a daycare door. The motivations behind one of Zisa’s political hits was fairly obvious: in Bogota, Zisa removed off Ray Herr who unsuccessfully challenged Zisa for the chairmanship back in 2022.
Meanwhile, over in Mahwah, a legally blind committee member and her son/caretaker were among those tossed off of the line.
“We are deeply troubled by Chairman Zisa’s actions, which appear to be driven by ulterior motives rather than the best interests of the party and the people of Mahwah,” said Frank Pallotta, a Mahwah Municipal Committee member and a two-time Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 5th District. “His decision to retaliate against capable candidates based on discriminatory grounds is entirely unacceptable and reflects poorly on the values that our Republican party represents. It also appears that Chairman Zisa has launched similar attacks against more than 100 candidates across Bergen County. Having lost every one of his 37 County races during his tenure, and with his failed Chairmanship seemingly coming to an end, the old adage ‘a dying mule kicks the hardest’, certainly feels apropos.”
Critics cited a recent county party email blast which explained, in part, that, “[a]s we have done in the past, Chairman Zisa considers the recommendations of the municipal chairs when awarding the official Bergen County Republican Organization column and slogan,’Republicans for Responsible Government.'”
Retired businessman and 2023 LD38 Assembly nominee Barry Wilkes of Glen Rock is considered the leading likely challenger to Zisa.
