Jon M. Bramnick (born February 24, 1953) is an American Republican Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, who has served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

since 2022, representing the 21st legislative district. He previously served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

, representing the 21st Legislative District from 2003 to 2022, He also previously served as the Assembly Republican Leader from January 2012 to January 2022. He was appointed to the Assembly in 2003 to fill the unexpired term of the vacancy created upon the selection of

Thomas Kean Jr. Thomas Howard Kean Jr. ( ; born September 5, 1968) is an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician and the U.S. representative-elect from New Jersey's 7th congressional district. From 2001 until 2003, he was a New Jersey Ge ...

to fill an unexpired

term. He was elected to a full two-year term later that year and was re-elected in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. He was elected to the

in 2021.

Early life

Bramnick was born and raised in Plainfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

as the son of Plainfield business owners (Lazaar's Stationers). He graduated from Plainfield High School, received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and was awarded a J.D. from the

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

School of Law. Before becoming an Assemblyman, Bramnick served two terms on the Plainfield

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

from 1984 to 1991. He is the Republican Municipal Chairman in Westfield, where he resides with his family. Bramnick is a former professor at both

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

and

Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...

. Following his graduation from law school, he served as an assistant corporation counsel in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He is an attorney with a private practice in

Scotch Plains, New Jersey Scotch Plains is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 201 ...

with the firm of Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold & Mangan.

New Jersey Assembly

Following the appointment of Tom Kean, Jr. to the State Senate, a vacancy opened up in the 21st District's Assembly delegation. Bramnick won the most ballots of a vote by members of the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

county Republican committee persons of the district beating former Assemblyman James J. Barry, Jr., Millburn mayor Thomas McDermott, and Warren Township Planning Board chairman Dan Gallic. In December 2005 he was appointed Assistant Minority Whip of the Assembly for the 2006–2008 term. In June 2007, Bramnick was selected as the Minority Whip, succeeding Francis J. Blee. In November 2009, he was elected as the Republican Conference Leader, the second-highest leadership position in the Republican caucus. In the Assembly, he has served as Vice Chair of the Legislative Services Commission. After the death of Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce in January 2012, the Assembly Republican caucus chose Bramnick as its new leader. Bramnick has been honored with the 2013 Governor Meyner Award from the Bar Association and the 2011 Legislator of the Year award from the Chamber of Commerce. He was named 2013 Legislator of the Year by the New Jersey Conference of Mayors and was honored at Rider University for his dedication to New Jersey politics and public service.The 2015 Lincoln Award Presented to New Jersey Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick
Woodcliff Lake republican Club. Accessed November 23, 2016. On January 3, 2017, Bramnick announced that he would not run for New Jersey governor in 2017, as he was seen as a potential frontrunner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. In 2019, Bramnick voted for

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

measures backed by Democratic representatives in the state legislature.

Committee assignments

Committee assignments for the 2022—23 Legislative Session session are:Senator Jon M. Bramnick (R)

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

. Accessed May 17, 2022. *Commerce *Judiciary

District 21

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

and two members in the

. The representatives from the 21st District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are: * Senator Jon Bramnick (R) * Assemblyman Michele Matsikoudis (R) * Assemblyman Nancy Munoz (R)

Personal life

Bramnick holds the honorary title of "Funniest Lawyer in New Jersey" after winning contests sponsored by the bar association at Rascals Comedy Club. He often volunteers his services as a comedic auctioneer on behalf of non-profit organizations including

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

victims. Bramnick resides in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. On March 11, 2019, Bramnick

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

a book titled ''Why People Don’t Like You'' which is a comedy book about social skills.

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Assembly

References

External links

Assemblyman Bramnick's legislative web page

Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold & Mangan, LLC
*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
2016201520142013201220112010200920082007200620052004District 21 Candidates Website Kean (Senate), Bramnick & Munoz (Assembly)Assembly Member Jon M. Bramnick

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bramnick, Jon 1953 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American Jews Jewish American state legislators in New Jersey Living people Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni New Jersey city council members New Jersey lawyers Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party New Jersey state senators Plainfield High School (New Jersey) alumni Politicians from New York City Politicians from Plainfield, New Jersey People from Westfield, New Jersey Rider University faculty Rutgers University faculty