Joseph Morelle

Joseph D. Morelle ( ; born April 29, 1957) He was elected to the United States House of Representatives for New York's 25th congressional district in November 2018 following the death of longtime Representative Louise Slaughter.

Early life and education Morelle, who is of Italian American heritage, was born in Utica, New York, to Gilbert and Juliette Morelle. Gil was a Korean War veteran, a heating and cooling technician and a lifelong Plumbers and Pipefitters Union member. Joe and his three siblings grew up Catholic, on Vayo Street in Irondequoit, where he attended Eastridge High School. He got his political start working for State Senator John D. Perry as a constituent services representative in Rochester and legislative aide in Albany.

Political career County legislature Morelle, a Democrat, made his first foray into elective politics at age 24 when he ran for a seat in the Monroe County legislature. He failed to unseat the incumbent on the first try, but prevailed in the 1983 election. He was reelected once before running for the New York State legislature.

State legislature

Morelle was first elected to the State Assembly in 1990. and won the November 2010 general election with 61% of the vote.

During his tenure in the state legislature, Morelle authored more than 200 laws, including major reforms to the workers compensation system, laws to require carbon monoxide detectors in one- and two-family homes, toughen regulations governing charitable organizations, protect the elderly and infirm who live in nursing homes or receive home based health care, and raise senior citizens' real property tax exemption. He sponsored bills to exempt veterans from certain state licensing fees, protect their grave sites, and assist them with the civil service application process.

In January 2001, Morelle was appointed chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development. He worked with area leaders to develop Rochester as a center for tourism and the arts in Western New York.

In addition to the Tourism Committee, Morelle's standing committee assignments included Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry; Higher Education; Local Governments; and Libraries and Education Technology. At his request, the Speaker created the Subcommittee on Manufacturing in order to give New York's manufacturing sector a greater voice in state government.

In 2005, Morelle issued a report, "Creating a State of Innovation: Unleashing The Power of New York's Entrepreneurial Economy", detailing New York's economic decline, particularly upstate, and offering numerous policy recommendations to reverse this years-long trend.

In 2005, Morelle was elected chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, and held this position until 2014.

Campaign violations In 1990, an acting state Supreme Court justice ruled that Morelle fraudulently obtained several signatures on nominating petitions to qualify him for an independent line on the 1990 ballot (New York permits cross-filing in some circumstances) during his run for the State Assembly. In 1991 he was charged with seven misdemeanor counts of violating state election law. On November 6, he ran in two elections: a special election for the last two months of Slaughter's 16th term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. He won both, defeating Republican nominee Jim Maxwell.

2020

Morelle ran for reelection to a second full term, winning the Democratic primary against challenger and Brighton town councilwoman Robin Wilt. He defeated the Republican nominee, businessman George Mitris, in the general election.

2022

Morelle ran unopposed for reelection in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican La'Ron Singletary in the general election, winning a third full term with 53.8% of the vote to Singletary's 46.1%.

2024

Morelle ran for a fourth term and defeated Republican Gregg Sadwick in the general election, winning 60.8% of the vote to Sadwick's 39.2%.

Tenure Morelle was sworn in on November 13, 2018.

On December 2, 2024, Michael Hopkins, a congressional staffer for Morelle, was arrested after routine x-ray screens discovered 11 rounds of ammunition and several ammunition magazines in his bag. Hopkins was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of ammunition and possession of a high capacity magazine.

Committee assignments Committee on House Administration (Ranking member) Committee on Appropriations

Caucus memberships New Democrat Coalition Congressional Coalition on Adoption Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment Congressional Equality Caucus Congressional Ukraine Caucus House Pro-Choice Caucus Labor Caucus Taiwan Caucus

Political positions Morelle voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

In 2025, Morelle was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

Leadership call to discuss Biden On July 7, 2024, it was reported that Morelle had expressed interest in encouraging Biden to end his bid for re-election. This was during a call that U.S. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries held with the committee leaders.

Electoral history

Personal life Morelle lives in Irondequoit with his wife, Mary Beth.