Joseph D. Morelle ( ; born April 29, 1957) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 25th congressional district since 2018. A Democrat, he was formerly a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 136th Assembly district, which includes eastern portions of the City of Rochester and the Monroe County suburbs of Irondequoit and Brighton. Speaker Sheldon Silver appointed him as majority leader of the New York State Assembly in January 2013 and Morelle served as acting speaker in the Speaker's absence. 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 received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from State University of New York at Geneseo in 1986.
In his early years, Morelle was a sales manager for a drycleaning and laundry business. 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. He ran uncontested in the November 2008 general election and won the November 2010 general election with 61% of the vote.
While serving in the New York State Assembly, Morelle sponsored laws about public safety and how charitable organizations are regulated. A 2016 University of Rochester biography states that he wrote over 200 laws. In 2002, he introduced a law that required carbon monoxide detectors in some homes, which became Chapter 257 of the Laws of 2002. That same year, he helped pass a law to improve financial disclosure and oversight for charities, which became Chapter 43 of the Laws of 2002.
In January 2001, Morelle was appointed chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development. As chair, he supported efforts to promote tourism in the Rochester region, including the development of a regional marketing campaign. He also encouraged local officials to consider converting Rochester's historic Auditorium Center into a performing arts center.
In addition to the Tourism Committee, he served on the standing committees on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry; Higher Education; Local Governments, and Libraries and Education Technology. He also chaired the Assembly Subcommittee on Manufacturing. In June 2005, the subcommittee participated in an Assembly roundtable examining how New York evaluated its public investments in research and development.
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. Morelle remained on the ballot and won the election. He later admitted that he allowed family members to sign the petitions for the individuals whose names appeared on them and did not personally witness the signatures, both of which are illegal. In 1991 he was charged with seven misdemeanor counts of violating state election law. Morelle denied intentionally violating the law, but accepted a plea bargain in which he was found guilty of two counts of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to 32 hours of community service and a $25 fine. Because disorderly conduct is a violation of the law, rather than a misdemeanor or felony, Morelle's plea enabled him to avoid having a permanent criminal record as a result of the incident.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
After the death of Representative Louise Slaughter, Morelle announced his candidacy for New York's 25th congressional district; he won the Democratic Party's nomination on June 26, 2018. 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. They have three children.
References
External links
Congressman Morelle official U.S. House website Campaign website