Christopher P. DePhillips (born March 30, 1965) is an American Republican Party politician who has represented the 40th Legislative District in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

since 2018.Legislative web page
,

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and th ...

. Accessed January 25, 2022. He replaced

David C. Russo David C. Russo (born October 8, 1953) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 40th legislative district from 1990 to 2017. Biography Russo was born in Jersey City.

, who decided against running for re-election after 28 years in office. DePhillips had previously served as mayor of Wyckoff.

Personal and early life

DePhillips earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in government from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1987 and a Juris Doctor degree from

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankin ...

in 1992. From 1987 to 1989 he worked in Washington, D.C., as an aide to Congresswoman

Marge Roukema Margaret "Marge" Roukema (née Scafati; September 19, 1929 – November 12, 2014) was an American politician who represented New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives for twenty-two years as a Republican from 1981 to 2003. Early lif ...

. A practicing attorney, DePhillips is vice president and general counsel of Porzio Life Sciences."Porzio Life Sciences VP Christopher DePhillips Elected to NJ State Assembly"
Porzio Life Sciences, press release dated November 8, 2017. Accessed January 22, 2018. A member of the Wyckoff Township Committee from 2010 to 2013, DePhillips was unanimously chosen by his peers to serve as the township's mayor in 2012. Appointed in June 2012, he served until 2017 as a Commissioner of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority, which provides sewage treatment services to 75,000 residents in

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Jon Bramnick Jon M. Bramnick (born February 24, 1953) is an American Republican Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2022, representing the 21st legislative district. He previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly, repres ...

. On December 6, 2021, DePhillips introduced a bill that would allow vote-by-mail ballots to be counted as they are received, which would change the current policy that requires waiting until election day. In an NJ Assembly GOP press release promoting the bill, Dephillips stated that, “It is incumbent upon officials to fix the problems that lead to conspiracy theories. Earlier counting of mail-in votes will help address some of this year’s hang-ups,” referencing how, in 2021, New Jersey's gubernatorial race and some legislative races were too close to call on election night. In March 2022, DePhillips introduced proposed

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impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. I ...

against New Jersey Secretary of Labor

Robert Asaro-Angelo Robert Asaro-Angelo is an American labor leader and commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Biography Asaro-Angelo was raised in a union family and is a son of a longtime Atlantic City labor organizer. From ...

Committee assignments

*Financial Institutions and Insurance *Judiciary *Science, Innovation and Technology

District 40

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

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 40th District for the 2022—23 Legislative Session are: * Senator

Kristin Corrado Kristin M. Corrado (born June 24, 1965) is an American Republican Party politician who represents the 40th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate. She was sworn into office on October 5, 2017. Before her appointment to the New Jersey Se ...

(R) * Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R) * Assemblyman

Kevin J. Rooney Kevin J. Rooney (born January 13, 1960) is an American Republican Party politician who has represented the 40th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since his appointment on December 12, 2016. Rooney served in the General As ...

(R)

Electoral history

New Jersey Assembly

2019

In 2019, Democrats Maria Martini Cordonnier and Micheal Sedon won the primary to challenge DePhillips and his running mate

. However, Sedon dropped out of the general election and was replaced with former Bergen County Freeholder Julie O'Brien. During the election DePhillips and Rooney skipped a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters, claiming it was unfair. The Democrats lost to the incumbents.

2017

In the 2013 general election, the last time all three legislative seats in the 40th District were up for vote simultaneously, the winners were

Kevin J. O'Toole Kevin J. O'Toole (born October 5, 1964) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey Senate. O'Toole represented the 40th legislative district, which included parts of Bergen, Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties fr ...

in the Senate and

Scott Rumana Scott T. Rumana (born July 18, 1964) is an Assyrian-American Republican Party politician, and was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 40th legislative district from January 8, 2008 until his resignation on Oc ...

and David C. Russo in the Assembly. By the 2017 primaries all would be gone, with O'Toole resigning in 2017 to become a Commissioner of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

(being replaced by

), Rumana leaving in 2016 to become a Superior Court Judge (and be replaced By Kevin J. Rooney) and Russo's announcement that he would not run for another term of office, leaving a vacuum that led to a series of primary challenges. In the June 2017 Republican primary for the two Assembly seats, Rooney and DePhillips withstood a challenge from Joseph Bubba Jr. and the comeback attempt of former State Senator

Norman M. Robertson Norman M. "Norm" Robertson (born April 12, 1951) is an American Republican Party politician and attorney who served a single term in the New Jersey Senate, from 1998 to 2002. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, he earned his undergraduate degree from ...

by margins of 2–1;

won the Senate nomination against former Assemblyman

Paul DiGaetano Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. Since 1973, the 40th District has always leaned Republican, never electing a Democrat through the 2017 general election. However, a poll conducted by Democrats shortly before the election showed the two slates tied at 39%, with 21% of voters undecided. In the November 2017 general election, DePhillips (with 30,610 votes; 26.3% of all ballots cast) and his running mate, incumbent

(with 31,170; 26.8%), defeated Democratic challengers Christine Ordway (27,092; 23.3%) and Paul Vagianos (26,737; 23.0%) to win both Assembly seats from the district for the Republicans.Cowen, Richard
"Democratic turnout, money factors in Republican losses in Bergen and Passaic counties"
''

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'', November 9, 2017. Accessed January 22, 2018. "The split in the ranks of the Passaic Republicans is in part the result of the political dogfight in District 40. Former Passaic County Clerk Kristin Corrado captured the state Senate seat in District 40, beating Tom Duch. Her two Republican running mates for Assembly, Kevin Rooney and Chris DePhillips, both of Wyckoff, also beat back a challenge from Democrats Christine Ordway and Paul Vagianos."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DePhillips, Christopher 1965 births Living people Mayors of places in New Jersey New Jersey lawyers Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from Wyckoff, New Jersey Politicians from Bergen County, New Jersey Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni Seton Hall University School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians