Wilson grew up in
Bridgewater Township, New Jersey and graduated from
Bridgewater-Raritan High School East in 1985. He attended
University of Vermont and received a
B.A. degree in political science in 1989. After college he worked as the political director of the Assembly Republican Majority, a New Jersey Republican fundraising organization chaired by
Chuck Haytaian. In 1991 Haytaian became Speaker of the
New Jersey General Assembly and hired Wilson as the director of his office. In 1992 he was a strategist for the unsuccessful campaign of
W. Cary Edwards for
Governor of New Jersey, before going on to work for the political consultant David Welch on state legislative races. When Haytaian became chairman of the
New Jersey Republican State Committee in 1995, Wilson was named executive director. Haytaian urged Governor
Christine Todd Whitman to hire Wilson as her campaign manager for her 1997 race for reelection against
Jim McGreevey. In November 2004 Wilson was elected chairman of the
New Jersey Republican State Committee, in the lead-up to the 2005 gubernatorial primary battle between
Doug Forrester,
Bret Schundler, and five other candidates. Forrester won the primary but lost in the general election to
Jon Corzine. During the Corzine administration, Wilson was especially critical of the governor's relationship with
Carla Katz, president of Local 1034 of the
Communications Workers of America. Wilson lodged a lawsuit to force Corzine to reveal all correspondence with Katz in order to determine whether her previous romantic relationship with the governor improperly influenced contract negotiations. On May 30, 2008,
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Paul Innes ruled that at least 745 records of e-mail correspondence between Corzine and Katz should be made public, but Corzine's lawyers immediately appealed the decision. On June 11, 2009, Republican gubernatorial candidate
Christopher J. Christie announced his selection of Assemblyman
Jay Webber to succeed Wilson as party chairman. State Committee members unanimously supported the selection of Webber in a vote on June 17, 2009. Wilson has been married to Lysa Israel, a Republican fundraiser, since 1993. They reside in
Montgomery Township, New Jersey. He is a frequent commentator on government and politics in New Jersey. == References ==