Joseph Pennacchio


Joseph Pennacchio 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 is currently serving as Minority Whip. He served in the General Assembly from 2001 to 2008.

Early life

Pennacchio received a B.S. in 1976 from Brooklyn College in Biology and received his D.D.S. degree in 1979 from the New York University College of Dentistry. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and currently resides in Montville with wife Diane. Pennacchio served on the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders 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.

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

Committees

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.

District 26

Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 26th district for the 218th New Jersey Legislature are:
In 1991, Pennacchio sent a 94-page white paper called the "Nationalist Agenda" to then-New Jersey General Assembly minority leader Chuck Haytaian. The manifesto, among other things, calls for a new "Nationalist Party," a Balanced Budget Amendment; Line-item veto Amendment; Term Length/Limit Amendment ; Anti-Racism Amendment; Amend the 2nd Amendment to allow for regulation and banning of certain guns and ammunition; Death Penalty Amendment ; Equal Rights Amendment ; Flag-Burning Amendment; abolition of the Electoral College; establishment of regional presidential primaries; Establishment of a federal "Department of Science"; A national lottery, school vouchers; reforms to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, 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" and Sabrin had called for him to drop out of the Senate race and resign from the State Senate. Pennacchio refused to drop out and says that these are ideas he came up with before he ran for office and that he has "evolved" beyond many of them. Pennacchio described these attacks as "anti-Italian". Despite these attacks Pennacchio bested Sabrin by a wide margin.

Electoral History

New Jersey Senate

Election box winning candidate with party link
|candidate = Joe Pennacchio
|votes = 26,567
|percentage = 66.4
|change = 0.4
Election box candidate with party link
|candidate = Wasim A. Khan
|votes = 13,442
|percentage = 33.6
|change = 0.4
Election box total
Election box end

New Jersey Assembly