Jay Webber

Jay Webber
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 26th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2008 Serving with Alex DeCroce (2008–2012) BettyLou DeCroce (2012–2022) Christian Barranco (2022–2024) Brian Bergen (2024–present)
Preceded by	Joseph Pennacchio
Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
In office June 17, 2009 – January 11, 2011
Preceded by	Tom Wilson
Succeeded by	Sam Raia
Personal details
Born	(1972-02-29) February 29, 1972 (age 52) Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Johanna
Children	8
Residence	Morris Plains, New Jersey
Education	Johns Hopkins University (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Website	Legislative Website

James K. "Jay" Webber^[1] (born February 29, 1972) is an American lawyer and Republican politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 8, 2008, where he represents the 26th legislative district. Webber has served in the Assembly as the Minority Appropriations Officer since 2018.^[2]

Early life and education

Webber was born in Teaneck, New Jersey. Raised in Clifton, he attended Saint Joseph Regional High School.^[3] He received a B.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa and a Second Team All-American in baseball.^[4][2] He served as Budget Staffer and District Director to William J. Martini during his term in Congress.^[5] After leaving Congressman Martini's office, Webber was a staff member at the Manhattan Institute.^[5] Webber earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School^[2] and clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court justice Peter Verniero.^[6][7]

New Jersey Senate campaign

At age 30 in 2003, Webber ran in the Republican primary against incumbent state senator Robert Martin by running to the right of the senator.^[6] Martin defeated Webber by approximately 1,900 votes, 15 percentage points from the total vote.^[8]

New Jersey Assembly

In 2007, following Martin's retirement from the Senate and incumbent Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio deciding to run for Martin's seat, Webber ran in the Republican primary for Pennacchio's Assembly seat. Incumbent Alex DeCroce took the most votes in the June primary (9,833 votes or 41.1%) while Webber advanced to the November general election by coming in second (7,679 votes, 32.2%) defeating Kinnelon councilman Larry Casha (6,369 votes, 26.7%).^[9][10] Webber was elected in the general election and has subsequently been re-elected every two years since then.

Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[2]

• Appropriations
• Financial Institutions and Insurance

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.^[11] The representatives from the 26th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[12]

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

New Jersey Republican Party chairmanship

On June 11, 2009, Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie announced his selection of Webber to succeed Tom Wilson as chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee.^[13] State Committee members unanimously supported the selection of Webber in a vote on June 17, 2009.^[14] Webber announced that he would be leaving the Chairman's post in January 2011, and was succeeded by Sam Raia.^[15]

2018 U.S. House campaign

On February 3, 2018, Webber announced he would officially run for the U.S. House seat representing New Jersey's 11th congressional district, after incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen announced on January 29 that he would not seek reelection. Webber received the Republican Party nomination in the June 6 primary election, defeating Anthony Ghee and Peter DeNeufville.^[16] He was defeated by Democratic nominee Mikie Sherrill in the November general election. Sherrill won 56.2% of the vote to Webber's 42.7%, defeating him by 13.5%, a 33 percentage-point shift in the vote share towards the Democrat compared to the last election. It was the largest partisan swing of any district in the 2018 House Elections.^[17]

Personal life

He is married to Johanna, with whom he has eight children. He is a resident of Morris Plains. He owns a law firm based in Whippany.

Electoral history

General Assembly

26th Legislative District General Election, 2023^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jay Webber (incumbent)	28,146	28.7
	Republican	Brian Bergen (incumbent)	27,831	28.3
	Democratic	John Van Achen	21,263	21.7
	Democratic	Walter Mielarczyk	20,962	21.4
Total votes			98,202	100.0
	Republican hold
	Republican hold

26th Legislative District General Election, 2021^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jay Webber (incumbent)	46,239	29.98%
	Republican	Christian E. Barranco	45,224	29.32%
	Democratic	Pamela Fadden	31,434	20.38%
	Democratic	Melissa Brown Blaeuer	31,355	20.33%
Total votes			154,252	100.0
	Republican hold

26th Legislative District General Election, 2019^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	BettyLou DeCroce (incumbent)	24,706	28.5%
	Republican	Jay Webber (incumbent)	24,451	28.21%
	Democratic	Christine Clarke	18,813	21.7%
	Democratic	Laura Fortgang	18,711	21.59%
Total votes			86,681	100%
	Republican hold

New Jersey general election, 2017

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jay Webber	31,810	28.2	2.1
	Republican	BettyLou DeCroce	31,766	28.2	1.9
	Democratic	Joseph R. Raich	24,732	22.0	2.6
	Democratic	E. William Edge	24,362	21.6	2.8
Total votes			'112,670'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2015

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jay Webber	13,739	30.3	2.3
	Republican	BettyLou DeCroce	13,666	30.1	2.8
	Democratic	Avery Hart	8,805	19.4	2.0
	Democratic	Wayne B. Marek	8,525	18.8	1.7
	Green	Jimmy D. Brash	666	1.5	N/A
Total votes			'45,401'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2013

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	BettyLou DeCroce	35,352	32.9	0.9
	Republican	Jay Webber	35,028	32.6	1.2
	Democratic	Elliot Isibor	18,720	17.4	0.6
	Democratic	Joseph Raich	18,379	17.1	0.5
Total votes			'107,479'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2011

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alex DeCroce	19,696	32.0
	Republican	Jay Webber	19,543	31.8
	Democratic	Joseph Raich	10,847	17.6
	Democratic	Elliot Isibor	10,319	16.8
	Green	Michael Spector	1,095	1.8
Total votes			61,500	100.0

New Jersey general election, 2009

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Alex DeCroce	43,647	34.7	2.6
	Republican	Jay Webber	42,077	33.4	2.6
	Democratic	Wayne B. Marek	20,107	16.0	0.9
	Democratic	Douglas Herbert	20,015	15.9	1.2
Total votes			'125,846'	'100.0'

New Jersey general election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Alex DeCroce	25,342	32.1	1.9
	Republican	Jay Webber	24,307	30.8	1.7
	Democratic	David Modrak	13,488	17.1	3.0
	Democratic	Wayne Marek	13,308	16.9	2.5
	Green	Michael Spector	971	1.2	N/A
	Green	Matthew Norton	935	1.2	N/A
	Libertarian	Kenneth Kaplan	577	0.7	0.1
Total votes			'78,928'	'100.0'

United States House of Representatives

New Jersey's 11th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mikie Sherrill	183,684	56.8
	Republican	Jay Webber	136,322	42.1
	Independent	Robert Crook	2,182	0.7
	Libertarian	Ryan Martinez	1,386	0.4
Total votes			323,574	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

1. James K. Webber, Webber McGill LLC. Accessed June 5, 2018.
2. Assemblyman Jay Webber, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 24, 2024.
3. Garber, Phil. "Republican voters to pick possible successor to Frelinghuysen in 11th District", Cedar Grove / Verona Observer, May 29, 2018. Accessed June 28, 2018. "Webber grew up in Clifton and attended St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale."
4. "James K. Webber – The Law Offices of Webber McGill, LLC". webbermcgill.com. September 21, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
5. "Assemblyman Jay Webber | Biography". Assemblyman Jay Webber. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
6. Kornacki, Steve (April 13, 2003). "Martin makes right turn on road to a GOP primary". Politics NJ. Archived from the original on December 12, 2006. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
7. "Assemblyman Jay Webber". New Jersey Assembly Republicans. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
8. "Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For June 2003 Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. April 3, 2006. p. 26. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
9. Heyboer, Kelly; Murphy, Dan (June 5, 2007). "26th District: DeCroce, Webber win GOP Assembly nods". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
10. "Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For June 2007 Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. July 20, 2007. p. 26. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
11. New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
12. Legislative Roster for District 26, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 24, 2024.
13. Rispoli, Michael. "N.J. gov candidate Chris Christie taps Assemblyman Jay Webber to head N.J. GOP", The Star-Ledger, June 11, 2009. Accessed September 26, 2015.
14. "Webber Elected NJGOP Chairman". New Jersey Republican State Committee. June 18, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
15. Dinges, Tomás. "N.J. Republican Party elects new state chairman", The Star-Ledger, January 11, 2011. Accessed September 26, 2015. "Raia was named the new head of the New Jersey Republican State Committee last Thursday. That news came shortly after former chair Assemblyman Jay Webber, of Morris Plains, announced he would step down."
16. Hetrick, Christian (June 5, 2018). "Jay Webber Wins GOP Primary in New Jersey's 11th District". Observer. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
17. "U.S. House Election Results 2018". Politico. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
18. "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
19. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For GENERAL ELECTION 11/02/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
20. "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly For PRIMARY ELECTION 06/04/2019 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

External links

• State legislative page
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Assemblyman Webber's legislative webpage, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 Archived September 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine 2009 2008 2007 Archived March 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by Joseph Pennacchio	Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 26th district January 8, 2008–present Served alongside: Alex DeCroce, BettyLou DeCroce, Christian Barranco	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Tom Wilson	Chair of the New Jersey Republican Party June 11, 2009–January 11, 2011	Succeeded by Sam Raia