Douglas Sorantino

Cumberland County GOP Chairman Douglas Sorantino, left, is expected to resign the post he took over last year when Larry Pepper, center, retired after 33 years. The leading candidate for the chairmanship is Bob Greco, right, who managed the GOP campaign in 2008.

After a bruising loss in November in which his party lost two constitutional officers and its last seat on the freeholder board, Cumberland County Republican Chairman Doug Sorantino is expected to step down from his post tomorrow.

Two Republican sources say Sorantino, a former freeholder who took over the party last year after 33-year reign of former chairman Larry Pepper, will likely be replaced by Bob Greco, a party activist who managed the Republican county campaigns last year.  Sorantino's name has already been removed from the Republican State Committee website.

Sorantino could not immediately be reached for comment. Greco said that he would leave it up to Sorantino to announce his own plans, but acknowledged that he is interested in taking over the post if there is an opening.

Republicans last week honored Larry Pepper for his 33 years of service as chair of the Cumberland County GOP.

Marking the occasion of his retirement as chairman, over 400 of Pepper’s friends, family and elected officials throughout the state attended a gala at the Centerton Country Club on June 30.

Guests included U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2), New Jersey State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson, state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr., Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, and former state Senator and personal friend James R. Hurley.

LoBiondo and new county Chairman Douglas Sorantino awarded Pepper with a plaque honoring him for his "unprecedented" service.

Larry Pepper was 31-years-old in 1975 when he was elected Cumberland County GOP Chairman, and now one of the senior Republican leaders in the state is expected to step down when his term expires in June. His likely replacement, South Jersey GOP leaders say, is Douglas Sorantino, a former Freeholder. During his 33 years in office, Republicans have only controlled county government in Cumberland once, and while they regained a congressional seat in 1994, the Cumberland GOP is now without any representation in the New Jersey Legislature for the first time since a decade before Pepper’s initial election.