# Brian Bergen

Brian Bergen (born July 8, 1979) is an American Republican Party politician who has represented the 26th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2024. He had represented the 25th district when he took office in January 14, 2020.

## Early life and education

Bergen is from Denville Township, New Jersey, where he served on the township council.
Bergen was a member of the cross country running team at James Caldwell High School in West Caldwell, which led to interest to join the team at the United States Military Academy. After attending West Point, Bergen served from 1997 to 2008 in the United States Army as a Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter pilot and earned graduate degrees from the University of Phoenix and Rutgers University.

## New Jersey General Assembly

Bergen entered the race for Assembly after incumbent Republican Michael Patrick Carroll announced that he would run for Morris County Surrogate. In the June 2019 Republican primary, Bergen and Anthony M. Bucco won the nomination for the two Assembly seats in the 25th district. After the death of state senator Anthony R. Bucco in September 2019, his son was appointed to fill the senate seat and Aura K. Dunn was appointed to fill the vacant Assembly seat.
In the November 2021 general election, Bergen and his Republican running mate Aura K. Dunn defeated Democratic Party challengers Lauren Barnett and Patricia Veres.
In the 2021 reapportionment, many municipalities in Morris County were shuffled between districts. As a result, Bergen relocated from the 25th legislative district to the 26th district, while Christian Barranco shifted from the 26th District into the 25th.

### Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:
* Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture
* Labor

### District 26

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The representatives from the 26th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:
* Senator Joseph Pennacchio (R)
* Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R)
* Assemblyman Jay Webber (R)

## Electoral history

26th Legislative District General Election, 2023 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jay Webber (incumbent) | 28,146 | 28.7 |
| | Republican | Brian Bergen (incumbent) | 27,831 | 28.3 |
| | Democratic | John Van Achen | 21,263 | 21.7 |
| | Democratic | Walter Mielarczyk | 20,962 | 21.4 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 98,202 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
25th legislative district general election, 2021 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Aura K. Dunn (incumbent) | 42,183 | 28.25% |
| | Republican | Brian Bergen (incumbent) | 41,584 | 27.85% |
| | Democratic | Lauren Barnett | 33,322 | 22.31% |
| | Democratic | Patricia L. Veres | 32,243 | 21.59% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 149,332 | 100.0 |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |
25th Legislative District General Election, 2019 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Anthony Bucco, Jr. (incumbent) | 26,848 | 27.19% |
| | Republican | Brian Bergen | 25,552 | 25.87% |
| | Democratic | Lisa Bhimani | 23,505 | 23.8% |
| | Democratic | Darcy Draeger | 22,850 | 23.14% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 98,755 | 100% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |