By John Burton
Gov. Chris Christie has selected a long involved Republican activist to be the next county clerk. Now it’s up to the state Senate to offer its advice and consent.
Christie has tapped Christine Giordano Hanlon, an attorney and vice chairwoman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee, to fill the vacancy when long-serving County Clerk M. Claire retires effective April 1.
According to French, Hanlon’s nomination is contingent on the approval of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. If approved, Hanlon would have to run this November for the clerk’s full five-year term.
The judiciary committee was scheduled to convene this week but it was unlikely its members would take up Hanlon’s nomination this quickly, French suspected.
“I’m hopeful we can get her nomination approved by the judiciary as soon as possible,” French said.
Hanlon, an Ocean Township resident, has been a practicing lawyer for more than 20 years. She currently works for the Archer and Greiner law firm’s Red Bank office, where she focuses on municipal law and civil litigation.
Hanlon is also a Republican state committeewoman representing Monmouth County and in 2009 she served on Christie’s transition team for the attorney general’s office. She was the Monmouth County campaign coordinator for Christie on his first run for governor in 2009 and had been the county coordinator for the McCain-Palin GOP ticket in 2008. She has been on the Monmouth County Board of Elections for approximately five years.
“She’s a very hard worker and a very capable person,” Thomas Szymanski, executive director for the county Republican committee, said of Hanlon this week.
“I’m very honored to have been nominated for this position by Gov. Christie,” Hanlon said on Tuesday. “It’s a very exciting opportunity.”
It was with her work with the board of elections that French said she has gotten to know Hanlon, calling her “an expert on election issues.”
“And that is a great help in this job,” French maintained.
That and her legal background has given Hanlon “a good amount of experience to fill the role,” Hanlon noted. “I can only hope to live up to the standard of excellence that Claire has set,” she added, tipping her hat to the current clerk.
The county clerk’s office has responsibilities over recording all property records; oversees the county archives division, for the large collection of public documents, some of which date back to the 17th century; the county passport division, assisting county residents in obtaining their passports; and administering the elections division, requiring the office to prepare ballots, process vote-by-mail applications, tabulate vote totals and certify county results for the New Jersey Secretary of State.
Hanlon, in 2012, had unsuccessfully challenged then county GOP chairman John O. Bennett, losing to the former state senator by a very narrow margin. When Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden won the chairmanship from Bennett in 2014, Golden named Hanlon as one of his four vice chairs, dividing the county into sections.
French last month announced she would be retiring before finishing her fourth, five-year term, holding the position for 18 years.
