The New Jersey Republican State Committee (also known as the “NJGOP”) voted unanimously on Wednesday evening in Red Bank to select former Burlington County Republican leader Glenn Paulsen as its brand new chairman. The 76-year-old Paulsen, a prominent attorney and longtime state political powerbroker, had the backing of Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli.
Now-former Chairman Bob Hugin stepped aside voluntarily and did not seek reelection.
Paulsen promptly named Kate Gibbs as his new executive director, the functional day-to-day leader the NJGOP and its varied operations (when it’s operating correctly). A senior official within the Operating Engineers Local 825 (which just endorsed Ciattarelli), Gibbs is a former Burlington freeholder and ex-congressional candidate back before NJ-03 was redistricted from a purple jurisdiction into a relatively blue stronghold.
The inarguably capable Paulsen-Gibbs duo nevertheless have their work cut out for them. The NJGOP is functionally broke and its reputation among both insiders and activists is at a low point.
Jack Ciattarelli undeniably hopes that the pair can help stabilize the organization and turn it into a useful vehicle for a statewide field program as the fall campaign season inches closer.
The NJGOP leadership inner circle is also taking on a decidedly more South Jersey character this time around, a reflection in part of the Southern counties and districts emerging as the state’s top battlegrounds in 2025 and beyond. Gibbs is a South Jersey native as indicated above. Darlene Shotmeyer and Shaun Van Doren, both of North Jersey, are returning as vice chair and treasurer respectively. However, Michelle Jones Purdy of Atlantic County – wife of Atlantic GOP Chairman Don Purdy and a prolific operative in her own right – is Paulsen’s pick for NJGOP secretary, succeeding long-time secretary Irene Kim Asbury of Hudson County.
