Joseph E. Robach (born February 22, 1958) is an American politician who was a member of the

New York Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan compo ...

, representing the 56th district from 2003 until 2020. The district includes portions of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

and the surrounding communities. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Robach formerly served in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from 1991 to 2002.

Background

Robach was born on February 22, 1958, the son of Assemblyman Roger J. Robach (1934–1991) and Teresa Fallocco. He graduated from

Aquinas Institute The Aquinas Institute of Rochester is a co-educational Catholic school in Rochester, New York established in 1902. Although The Aquinas Institute was founded as an all-male high school, it opened to female students in 1982. It is located within ...

and the

State University of New York College at Brockport State University of New York Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). History C ...

, where he received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Administration degrees. In 1991, Robach entered politics as a

, and was elected to the

in a special election in November of that year to the seat vacated by the death of his father. As an Assemblyman, Robach often had the support of the

Conservative Party of New York State The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U ...

. He would serve in the Assembly until 2002. In 2011, Robach voted against the Marriage Equality Act allowing same-sex marriage in New York, although the Act passed in a narrow 33-29 vote. In 2018, Robach weighed running for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

to succeed

Louise Slaughter Dorothy Louise Slaughter (née McIntosh, August 14, 1929 – March 16, 2018) was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States Representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. She served as the Dean of the ...

, who had died. He ultimately decided not to run.

New York Senate

In 2002, Robach switched parties to become a Republican. In lieu of running for another term in the Assembly, he opted to run for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

, where he defeated

Harry Bronson Harry B. Bronson (born May 22, 1959) is an attorney and politician from Rochester, New York who serves as a member of the New York State Assembly. A former member of the Monroe County legislature, he was elected to the Assembly in 2010. He is ...

66% to 33%. Since his initial election, Robach has never faced serious opposition, with an exception in 2008, when he narrowly defeated Richard A. Dollinger 52% to 48%. Despite the district being overwhelmingly Democratic by voter registration, Robach was unopposed in 2012 and 2014. He won reelection by double digits in 2016 and 2018. On December 11, 2019, Robach announced that he would not run for reelection in 2020.

Post-political career

Currently, Robach hosts a weekly radio show on WYSL.

References

1958 births Living people Members of the New York State Assembly New York (state) Republicans New York (state) Democrats New York (state) state senators People from Greece, New York 21st-century American politicians {{NewYork-NYSenate-stub