Joseph Pennacchio

Pennacchio was born in Brooklyn, New York.^[4] He received a B.S. in 1976 from Brooklyn College in Biology and a D.D.S. degree in 1979 from the New York University College of Dentistry.^[3]

He served on the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1998 to 2001^[5] and is a former member of Governor DiFrancesco's New Jersey Economic Development Authority.^[3] 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.^[6][7] He was succeeded by John Inglesino on the Board of Chosen Freeholders.^[8][9]

Pennacchio currently resides in Rockaway Township with his wife Diane.^[4][10][11]

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.^[12]

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.^[3] 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.^[13] Since 2022, he has been the Deputy Republican Leader .^[3]

Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[3]

• 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.^[14] The representatives from the 26th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[15]

• Senator Joseph Pennacchio (R)
• Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R)
• Assemblyman Jay Webber (R)

In 1994, Pennacchio challenged Congressman Dean Gallo in the Republican primary.^[16] He lost the primary.^[17][18]

On January 17, 2008, Pennacchio launched his campaign for the 2008 United States Senate race.^[19] On June 3, 2008, he was defeated in the Republican primary by former Congressman Dick Zimmer.^[20]

In 1991, Pennacchio sent a 94-page white paper called the "Nationalist Agenda"^[21] to then-New Jersey General Assembly minority leader Chuck Haytaian.^[22] 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; reforms to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Welfare Reform; letting the homeless stay in military bases;^[23][24] and mandatory military service for non-violent criminals.^[25] 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.^[26] 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.^[27] Pennacchio described these attacks as "anti-Italian". Despite these attacks, he bested Sabrin by a wide margin.

On October 16, 2019, the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign announced that Pennacchio and State Senator Mike Testa would be honorary state chairs of Trump's Victory Team.^[28]

New Jersey Senate

New Jersey general election, 2017^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joe Pennacchio	32,269	56.5	8.5
	Democratic	Elliot Isibor	24,867	43.5	8.5
Total votes			'57,136'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2013

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joe Pennacchio	35,772	65.0	0.7
	Democratic	Avery Ann Hart	19,250	35.0	2.2
Total votes			'55,022'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2007^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joe Pennacchio	26,567	66.4	0.4
	Democratic	Wasim A. Khan	13,442	33.6	0.4
Total votes			'40,009'	'100.0'

New Jersey Assembly

New Jersey general election, 2005

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Alex DeCroce	35,646	30.2	2.5
	Republican	Joe Pennacchio	34,331	29.1	3.1
	Democratic	Kathleen Lynch-McCabe	23,795	20.1	2.2
	Democratic	Avery Hart	22,881	19.4	2.2
	Libertarian	Anthony Pio Costa	833	0.7	N/A
	Libertarian	Kenneth Kaplan	660	0.6	N/A
Total votes			'118,146'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Alex DeCroce	20,882	32.7	1.5
	Republican	Joe Pennacchio	20,609	32.2	0.2
	Democratic	Laurie Fierro	11,467	17.9	1.0
	Democratic	Patrick J. Caserta	10,972	17.2	0.8
Total votes			'63,930'	'100.0'

• Senator Joseph Pennacchio's official site
• Senator Pennacchio's legislative webpage, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
• Joseph 'Joe' Pennacchio, Project Vote Smart
• Joseph Pennacchio's Nationalist Agenda: “A blueprint for the 21st century” (PDF)
• Official US Senate Campaign Website - www.JerseyJoe08.com