Republican voters to pick possible successor to Frelinghuysen in 11th District

The Republican from Morris Plains is one of five candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the 11th Congressional District in the Tuesday, June 5, primary election. Other candidates include Patrick Allocco of Denville, Antony E. Ghee of Totowa, Martin Hewitt of Morristown and Peter DeNeufville of Mendham Township.

The incumbent, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11, opted not to seek re-election after a lengthy career in Congress.

Webber, 46, was elected to the Assembly in 2007 and is in his fifth term in office. He is known for his strong conservative views on issues including his opposition to abortion and gun control. Most recently, he and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, also R-Morris, were the only two state legislators to vote against equal pay for equal work.

“The 2018 elections present our great nation and Republican Party with an important choice,” he said in a campaign statement. “We can give in to the angry intimidation of the far left who seek to ‘resist’ every idea that comes from someone who doesn’t share their outlier extremism.

“Or we can stand up for the beliefs and principles that have served our country so well for so long and continue the progress we’ve made in the last year toward reviving our economy, creating more and better paying jobs, strengthening the rule of law, and restoring America’s security and standing in the world. I choose the latter.”

Webber is known as a “Reagan Conservative” because of his work on the President Reagan Ranch Board of Governors, which is dedicated to preserving Reagan’s former ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., as a historical property. Webber is also the founder and host of New Jersey Reagan Day, an annual tribute to the life and leadership of Reagan that is the considered the state’s greatest annual gathering of conservatives.

Webber has been awarded the “Taxpayer Hero Award” from Americans for Prosperity-NJ; the Outstanding Legislator of the Year Award from the N.J. Society for Environmental Economic Development; and the Defender of the Family Legislative Award from the N.J. Family Policy Council.

He was chair of the N.J. Republican Party from 2009-11 and in 2011, he was co-chairman of the New Jersey Apportionment Commission, leading the Republican delegation through the once-a-decade state legislative redistricting process.

Webber grew up in Clifton and attended St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale. He graduated with a bachelor’s in international studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., where he was Phi Beta Kappa, a Rhodes Scholar Semi-Finalist, and a Second Team Academic All-American in baseball. He received his  degree from Harvard Law School.

Webber and his wife, Johanna, have seven children.

Webber’s 26th Legislative District includes the Essex County communities of Fairfield Township, North Caldwell Borough, Verona Township and West Caldwell Township; the Morris County municipalities of Butler Borough, Jefferson Township, Kinnelon Borough, Lincoln Park Borough, Montville Township, Morris Plains Borough, Parsippany-Troy Hills Township and Rockaway Township; along with the Passaic County community of West Milford Township.

Patrick Allocco

Allocco, a former music promoter, wants to use the platform, HearOurVote.org, to allow voters to vote on every bill in Congress.

“You can vote on ‘American Idol,’ ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and the ‘Voice’ but you cannot vote for taxes, guns, immigration or healthcare,” Allocco says. “Using the App/Website, all registered voters will be able to cast their vote on every single bill directly to Allocco and he will vote the final results. This will effectively marginalize the influence of special interests and hold all 435 representatives accountable to the people.”

He is a regional director with the Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group, a subsidiary of International Game Technology PLC.

Peter DeNeufville

DeNeufville is an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, specializing on middle east security. He also is the managing partner of the private equity firm, De Neufville and Company, L.P.

DeNeufville also is chairman of Voltaix, Inc., a manufacturer of chemical-vapor-deposition materials for the semiconductor and thin-film photovoltaic industries, according to his Linkedin page.

He is also active in national security and environmental issues. A reserve officer in the Navy, deNeufville served on active duty in 2006-07 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He previously served in commands at the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Antony Ghee

Ghee has an undergraduate degree in business administration, with honors, from Virginia Union, Richmond, Va., and a law degree from Howard University School of Law, Washington, D.C.

He also has a masters of law from Georgetown University School of Law, Washington, D.C.. He is a director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Global Wealth and Investment Management Chief Investment Office in New York City.

He served in the Army Reserves and holds the rank of major and is currently headquarters commander of the Army Reserve Legal Command in Gaithersburg, Md.

Martin Hewitt

A lawyer, Hewitt described himself as a fiscal conservative and social moderate. He said he has worked to support small businesses and advised members of Congress during the drafting of the Dodd-Frank Act to ensure that financial institutions don’t prey on investors.

Hewitt wants to reinstate the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program , provide universal health care and reform campaign spending laws. He also has been highly critical of President Donald Trump.

Hewitt and his wife, Roxanne, have a son and daughter.