# Joe Pennacchio

Joe Pennacchio is a Republican member of the New Jersey Senate for district 26.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: New Jersey Senate, district 26
- Serving since: 2008-01-08
- Current term: NJ 2026–27 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/4bf4c8e4-5a97-4100-b34d-cb01da6ab266

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4bf4c8e4-5a97-4100-b34d-cb01da6ab266 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

The policy areas Pennacchio talks about and legislates on agree at 0.64 on a 0–1 scale, in the top quarter of State Senate Republicans.

## What Pennacchio says (NJ 2026–27 session)

53 classified statements: 53 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Pennacchio | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 1.9% | 2.3% | 125 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 18.9% | 9.5% | 64 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 88.7% | 37.3% | 2 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 2.3% | 311 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 5.7% | 15.4% | 267 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 1.9% | 1.3% | 72 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Government Operations and Politics 36% (State Senate Republicans 17%); Crime and Law Enforcement 17% (State Senate Republicans 12%); Education 15% (State Senate Republicans 14%); Commerce 13% (State Senate Republicans 4.5%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 8.5% (State Senate Republicans 5.0%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.32 (standard error 0.02), from 232 donors and 761 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 42% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Legislation (NJ 2026–27 session)

Sponsored 88 bills: 88 reached committee, 5 passed one chamber, 1 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 42. 5.7% of sponsored bills got out of committee (New Jersey Senate 6.3%; rank 17 of 40).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SR 108: Urges Congress and US President to enact "No Taxes on Utility Bills Act." (in committee, 2026-10-01) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/SR108/
- S 4041: Increases amounts of aid paid to certain municipalities that host watershed lands; increases amount annually appropriated to "Highlands Protection Fund" from… (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S4041/
- S 3747: Requires State Police to develop public database of criminally charged or convicted undocumented immigrants. (in committee, 2026-03-05) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S3747/
- S 3709: Revises processing of valid mail-in ballots received after closure of polls. (in committee, 2026-03-02) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S3709/
- S 1335: Removes diversity and inclusion instruction requirements for students in grades kindergarten through eight. (in committee, 2026-01-13) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S1335/
- S 1341: Requires Division of Developmental Disabilities to develop guidelines for tiered group home placements and transfers. (in committee, 2026-01-13) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S1341/
- S 1312: Requires MVC to accept emergency medical technician and paramedic certification cards as two points of documentation for purposes of MVC identification… (passed one chamber, 2026-06-30) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S1312/
- S 1351: Requires parent to be notified when minor undergoes procedure or treatment under certain circumstances. (in committee, 2026-01-13) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S1351/
- S 1327: Revises method of determining reimbursement costs when a law enforcement entity hires a recently trained officer from another law enforcement entity. (in committee, 2026-01-13) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S1327/
- S 1309: Requires informed consent for breast implant surgery. (in committee, 2026-01-13) https://openstates.org/nj/bills/222/S1309/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $109.5K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 96% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2113638793475494295
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2112934439869436119
- 2026-09-28 · Post on X · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2104675604155236509
- 2026-09-28 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2104675605685956988
- 2026-09-21 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2102138230506181113
- 2026-09-10 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2098135473348587963
- 2026-09-10 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2098135474820767834
- 2026-09-10 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2098135476297253000
- 2026-09-10 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2098135477710671962
- 2026-09-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/joepennacchio/status/2098135479178649755

## Links

- Official site: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-roster/305/senator-pennacchio
- Campaign site: https://www.senatorjoe.com/
- X: https://x.com/joepennacchio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joepennacchionj/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/4bf4c8e4-5a97-4100-b34d-cb01da6ab266