Joseph Pennacchio (born May 27, 1955) is an American Republican Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey Senate since January 8, 2008, where he represents the 26th Legislative District. Pennacchio has served in the Senate as the Deputy Republican Leader since 2022. He served in the General Assembly from 2001 to 2008.

Early life

Pennacchio was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. He received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1976 from Brooklyn College in Biology and a D.D.S. degree in 1979 from the

New York University College of Dentistry The New York University College of Dentistry is the dentistry school of New York University. As the 3rd oldest dentistry school in the United States, it offers both graduate programs and clinical training in oral healthcare. History The College ...

. He served on the Morris County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

from 1998 to 2001 and is a former member of Governor DiFrancesco's New Jersey Economic Development Authority. He is the founder and a former member of the Montville Education Foundation, and a former member of the Montville Economic Development Council. He ousted incumbent freeholder, John M. Fox, in the 1998 Republican primary. He was succeeded by John Inglesino on the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Pennacchio currently resides in Rockaway Township with his wife Diane.Assembly Member Joseph 'Joe' Pennacchio

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 s ...

. Accessed August 17, 2007.

New Jersey Assembly

Pennacchio was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in February 2001 by a special convention of district Republicans to fill the seat vacated by Carol Murphy, following her nomination by Acting

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Donald DiFrancesco to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

New Jersey Senate

Pennacchio ran for state Senate in 2007 upon the retirement of

Robert J. Martin Robert J. Martin (born January 13, 1947) is an American Republican Party politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey State Senate from 1993 to 2008, where he represented the 26th legislative district. Before entering the Senate, Martin ...

. He has since served as Assistant Minority Leader from 2014 to 2017 when he was chosen as Minority Whip. During the 2019 budget fight, Democrats contradicted Governor

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

and passed a budget without the millionaires' tax. Pennacchio, alongside six other Republicans, voted for the budget.

Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:Senator Joseph Pennacchio
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022. *Economic Growth *Legislative Oversight

District 26

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members 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 f ...

. The representatives from the 26th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are:*Senator Joseph Pennacchio (R) *Assemblyman Christian Barranco (R) *Assemblyman Jay Webber (R)

United States House campaign

In 1994, Pennacchio challenged Congressman

Dean Gallo Dean Anderson Gallo (November 23, 1935 – November 6, 1994) was an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 1985 until his death from prostate cancer in Denvi ...

in the Republican primary. He lost the primary.

United States Senate campaign

On January 17, 2008, Pennacchio launched his campaign for the 2008 United States Senate race. On June 3, 2008 he was defeated in the Republican primary by former Congressman

Dick Zimmer Richard Alan Zimmer (born August 16, 1944) is an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and in the United States House of Representatives. H ...

Controversies

In 1991, Pennacchio sent a 94-page

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...

called the "Nationalist Agenda" to then-

minority leader

Chuck Haytaian Garabed "Chuck" Haytaian (born January 28, 1938) is an American Republican Party politician, who was the Speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly during the 'tax revolt' of the James Florio – Christine Todd Whitman era. He is of Armenia ...

. The manifesto, among other things, called for a new "Nationalist Party;" Balanced Budget Amendment; Line-item Veto Amendment; Term Length/Limit Amendment (six-year terms for presidents, senators, and congressmen and twelve-year term limits for each office); Anti-Racism Amendment; Amend the 2nd Amendment to allow for regulation and banning of certain guns and ammunition; Death Penalty Amendment (make murder a federal crime and ensure that the death penalty is allowed); Equal Rights Amendment (albeit slightly amended); Flag-Burning Amendment; abolition of the Electoral College; establishment of regional presidential primaries; Establishment of a federal "Department of Science"; national lottery (funded by voluntary $52-per-year contributions on tax returns; only those participating would be eligible to win),

school vouchers A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

; reforms to

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, Medicare,

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

, and Welfare Reform; letting the homeless stay in military bases; and mandatory military service for non-violent criminals. This has been referred to by his primary opponent as a " fascist manifesto". Sabrin called for him to drop out of the Senate race and resign from the State Senate. Pennacchio refused to drop out, and said that these were ideas he came up with before he ran for office, and that he had "evolved" beyond many of them. Pennacchio described these attacks as "anti-Italian". Despite these attacks, he bested Sabrin by a wide margin.

Involvement in Trump campaign

On October 16, 2019, the

Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign Incumbent Republican Donald Trump led an unsuccessful campaign for the 2020 United States presidential election. He was inaugurated for his first term on January 20, 2017, and officially announced his reelection campaign on June 18, 2019. Do ...

announced that Pennacchio and State Senator

Mike Testa Michael L. Testa Jr. (born May 1, 1976) is an American Republican Party politician who represents the 1st Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate. Testa was elected to the state senate on November 5, 2019 in the special election to f ...

would be honorary state chairs of Trump's Victory Team.

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Assembly

References

External links

Senator Joseph Pennacchio's official siteSenator Pennacchio's legislative webpage
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
20112010200920082007200620052004Joseph 'Joe' Pennacchio

Joseph Pennacchio's ''Nationalist Agenda'': “A blueprint for the 21st century” (PDF)Official US Senate Campaign Website - www.JerseyJoe08.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennacchio, Joseph 1955 births Living people American people of Italian descent Brooklyn College alumni County commissioners in New Jersey Republican Party New Jersey state senators Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New York University College of Dentistry alumni People from Montville, New Jersey People from Rockaway Township, New Jersey Politicians from Morris County, New Jersey 21st-century American politicians