Joseph L. Bubba (born February 28, 1938) is an American

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politician who served for five terms 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, ...

. Bubba served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

s from 1959 to 1961 and served on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) with the rank of seaman. He got a degree in marketing from

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

and was a manager for

New Jersey Bell Verizon New Jersey, Inc., formerly New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, is the Bell Operating Company serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. In 1984, the Bell System Divestiture split New Jersey Bell off into a Regional Bell Operating Company, along w ...

Telephone Company. He served on the Board of Education of the

Wayne Public Schools The Wayne Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. As o ...

from 1971 to 1975, and was elected to the

Passaic County Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from t ...

Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1975. He lost a bid for re-election in 1978, and was elected Passaic County Republican Chairman in 1979. Bubba was first elected to the Senate in 1981, when redistricting reconfigured the 34th Legislative District, which included Wayne and

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in Passaic County, and parts of Western Essex County. He defeated Democrat William J. Bate, an Assemblyman and ex-Senator, by a 53-47% margin. Two years later, Bubba faced a GOP primary challenge from Assemblyman S.M. Terry LaCorte, which he won 57%-43%. He survived a tough general election campaign against Passaic County Freeholder James Roe, the brother of U.S. Rep.

Robert Roe Robert Aloysius Roe (February 28, 1924 – July 15, 2014) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on ...

by just 974 votes. He won re-election in 1987, 1991 and 1993 against Democrats Donald Hetchka, Assemblyman Joseph Mecca and ex-State Consumer Affairs Director Patricia Royer, respectively. When Roe retired in 1992, Bubba ran for the Republican nomination for the seat. He was defeated in the general election by former Assemblyman Herb Klein by a wide margin. In 1997, Bubba was challenged by Passaic County Freeholder Norman M. Robertson in the primary. Robertson gained the backing of the Republicans in the district and easily defeated Bubba by a count of 66%-34%. In the Senate, Bubba served as Assistant Minority Whip from 1985 to 1986, as Minority Whip from 1987 to 1988, and as Assistant Minority Leader from 1988 to 1991. He lost his leadership post after the 1991 election after

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

defeated Bubba's ally,

John H. Dorsey John H. Dorsey (December 26, 1937 — December 16, 2018) was an American attorney and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature from 1976 to 1994, serving in the New Jers ...

, for Senate President. Bubba retired to Florida after a career with the phone company, and in 2004 made a bid for

Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

City Commissioner. He received 235 votes—just 8% -- in his fourth-place finish. (The candidate who finished third lost by 27 percentage points and Bubba got less than half the number of votes she did.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bubba, Joseph L. 1938 births Living people County commissioners in New Jersey Republican Party New Jersey state senators Politicians from Easton, Pennsylvania Politicians from Passaic County, New Jersey People from Wayne, New Jersey Seton Hall University alumni United States Navy sailors Military personnel from New Jersey People from Pompano Beach, Florida United States Navy reservists 20th-century American legislators