Joe Picozzi (born 1995 or 1996) is an American politician from

Somerton, Philadelphia Somerton is a neighborhood in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The neighborhood is bounded by Red Lion Road on the south, Roosevelt Boulevard on the east, East County Line Road and Poquessing Creek on the n ...

currently serving as a

Pennsylvania State Senator The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in ...

from

District 5 District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * District 5, an electoral district of Malta * District 5, a police district of Malta * Palma-Palmilla, also kno ...

. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to represent

of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

in the 2024 US elections, defeating Democratic incumbent

Jimmy Dillon Jimmy Dillon (born January 15, 1979) is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the Senate of Pennsylvania. He was elected to represent the 5th senatorial district on May 17, 2022, in a special election to replace incumbent Democ ...

who was elected in a 2022

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to replace John Sabatina, who resigned to serve on a

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

. Both candidates ran unopposed in their respective

party primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

. Picozzi's parents are a retired deputy fire chief and the former director of rehabilitation at the now-closed Hahnemann Hospital. He graduated from Holy Ghost Preparatory School. Picozzi studied government at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. He has worked as a senior advisor in strategic planning at the

Manhattan Institute The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservative think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs.R. Emmett Tyrrell, ...

and an assistant to

US House Speaker The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress. T ...

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

. He was an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

. Picozzi now lives in Tacony. In 2017, Picozzi was a finalist for that year's "30 under 30" list produced by ''

Red Alert Politics Red Alert Politics is an American conservative news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is owned by the Anschutz Corporation. The site focuses on targeting younger a ...

'', due in part to his campaigning in the 2016 US elections. The ''

Erie Times-News The ''Erie Times-News'' is a daily morning newspaper in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is owned by Gannett. The beginning The newspaper was founded as the ''Erie Daily Times'' on April 12, 1888, by nine printers involved in a labor dispute at another n ...

'' reported early in the campaign that although District 5 is heavily Democratic, Republican strategists saw the seat as a "potential pick-up". By flipping District 5, Picozzi will be the first Republican to represent Philadelphia in the State Senate in over two decades.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picozzi, Joe Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Politicians from Philadelphia 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators