Town leaders in East Hanover, N.J., including longtime Mayor Joseph Pannullo, have switched party affiliations from Democrat to Republican, according to the Daily Record.
The entire township council joined Pannullo in making the switch.
"Municipal leaders have a responsibility to best represent their constituents, and it is our belief this change of party is in the best interest of the community," Pannullo, who has served as mayor since 2007, said in a statement.
"As the nastiness, rhetoric, and social media vitriol of national politics continues to infiltrate local governance, we collectively determined this was the best course of action to keep the focus on local issues impacting our community."
Morris County Democratic Chair Amalia Duarte said she was disappointed by the move.
"But, the real story is that Morris County is rapidly trending more Democratic, as we saw in the last election cycle. We won new municipal seats, flipped Morris Township to entirely Democratic and all of our incumbents were reelected, including in East Hanover," she added.
Morris County Republican Committee Chair Laura Ali applauded the change.
"The entire Republican Party in Morris County is welcoming Mayor Pannullo and East Hanover's four council members to our family with open arms and great excitement!" she said. "East Hanover is an exceptionally run town with great leadership. It is clear we share the same values as Mayor Panullo and his Council and we are so excited to have them be part of our Republican family."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.