Brian Pettyjohn (born January 11, 1974) is an American politician and a Republican member of the

Delaware Senate The Delaware Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occurs, at wh ...

, where he has represented the 19th district since 2012. He has been serving as the Senate Minority Whip since 2020. He was a member of the town council for

Georgetown, Delaware Georgetown is a town and the county seat of Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 6,422, an increase of 38.3% over the previous decade. Georgetown is part of the Salisbury, Marylan ...

from 2008 to 2010 and mayor from 2010 to 2012.

Biography

Pettyjohn graduated from Sussex Central High School and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

Electoral History

He first ran for elective office as a member of the Georgetown, Delaware town council in 2008. He was elected to a 2-year term after defeating incumbent Chester Johnson in ward 4. In 2010, Pettyjohn was elected mayor of Georgetown after defeating Matt Walsh by 430-25. In 2012, he began a write-in campaign for Delaware Senate after incumbent Joseph W. Booth was defeated by Eric Bodenweiser in the Republican primary and Bodenweiser was subsequently indicted by a Delaware grand jury. When Bodenweiser filed the necessary paperwork to officially withdraw, Pettyjohn and the Republican Party petitioned the Delaware Department of Elections to replace Bodenweiser's name on the ballot with Pettyjohn's. The Department of Elections refused, and the Delaware Republican Party brought legal action against the department. After favorable rulings by the Delaware Court of Chancery and Delaware Supreme Court, Pettyjohn was placed on the November ballot. He won the election with slightly less than 60 percent of the vote. Pettyjohn was unopposed for reelection in the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections. In June 2017, Pettyjohn was charged with a felony for having a firearm on an airplane after a loaded handgun was found in his carry-on luggage at

Salisbury Regional Airport Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

by TSA agents. He did not have a concealed carry license for Maryland, although at the time he did have a valid Delaware concealed carry license. He stated he forgot the firearm was in his laptop bag, and could have faced up to 10 years in jail for the offense. However, he avoided a criminal conviction and jail time after being sentenced to 18 months of probation before judgement. He was also required to turn over his handgun as part of his plea bargain. Pettyjohn has frequently spoken out against and opposed gun control laws. In 2018, Pettyjohn reversed his earlier support for the Delaware Equal Rights Amendment and was one of five Republican senators to vote against it after voicing concerns about current programs and policies in place to advance women's rights. In 2019, Pettyjohn sponsored a bill to allow state funding for high school students attending trade schools and certification programs, which was signed into law in 2021.

References

External links

Official government pageCampaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettyjohn, Brian G. Living people 1974 births Republican Party Delaware state senators People from Milford, Delaware People from Georgetown, Delaware 21st-century American politicians