Dear Members of the Morris County Republican Committee,
Last week was hard for all of us. Commissioner Tayfun Selen is a great man and an outstanding public servant, and he deserved to win. Our MCRC team, our municipal chairs and hundreds of volunteers worked around the clock for him and for every Republican on the ballot. Morris County ran the largest ground game in New Jersey, according to the NJ GOP. Unfortunately, it was not enough to hold back the national blue tsunami that reached our county, and no one feels that loss more than I do.
You are owed an honest accounting of what went wrong and a clear plan for 2027. You will get both from me in the coming weeks, and I welcome hard questions from everyone who was in this fight with us.
Some of you have also seen that Christian Barranco has announced he wants to be our Chair, saying it is time to “Save Morris County.” Before you weigh that offer, I’d ask you to look at his record. Not my opinion of him. The public record.
In November 2025, Christian, a former registered Democrat, lost the 25th District Assembly seat, a seat Republicans had held since 1977. He was a two-term incumbent. He raised and spent more than any other candidate on the ballot, roughly $240,000, and finished third. If you check his ELEC report, you can see most of that money was wasted on elaborate personal lunches for his staff and many other extravagant expenses. That’s a shame, because his money came from Union members, who work hard to contribute to their dues.
Also of important note, he chose to run apart from his running mate and from this organization rather than as part of a team. He also told certain Union organizations not to give to her or to MCRC. That is not leadership or functional teamwork.
He has said that the top of the ticket sank him. But Aura Dunn was on the same ballot, in the same towns, on the same night, and she won. Same district, same wave. One Republican held on and one did not.
After the loss, he did not take responsibility. He told the New Jersey Globe that “the voters were very short-sighted in this election.” Those voters are our neighbors, and they are the people we need to win back.
Most people who lose a seat for the party spend the following year helping to win it back. Christian spent this one running against Republicans. He challenged Jefferson’s sitting Republican mayor, Eric Wilsusen, and backed a slate against the Republican council incumbents. That fight drew Republican time, money and volunteers inward in a year when we needed every one of them pointed at Democrats.
Jefferson is one of the most Republican towns in Morris County; President Trump carried it by more than 25 points. In June, Mayor Wilsusen beat Christian 1,609 to 1,138, a margin of about 17 points, as Barranco’s council candidates lost as well. The Republicans who know him best, his own neighbors, gave their answer.
A seat held for nearly fifty years, lost. A hometown primary, lost decisively. A pattern of starting fights inside the party and leaving others to repair the damage. That is the record behind the offer to teach 39 towns how to win and how to “Save Morris County.”
This was a painful election, and I am not asking anyone to pretend otherwise. Honest criticism from people who have been in the fight is welcome, and I intend to hear all of it. But the answer to a hard year is not to hand the organization to someone whose own last two campaigns ended in defeat, and whose most recent one was against fellow good Republicans.
Morris County Republicans have real work ahead of us: recruiting strong candidates and taking back what we lost. We will do that work together, with people capable of winning, who put the party ahead of themselves.
Thank you for everything you gave this year.
Laura Marie Ali
Chairwoman, Morris County Republican Committee