GOP chairman arrested for gun violence weeks before midterm elections

The chairman of the Sussex County Republican Committee was arrested Saturday after allegedly pointing a handgun at another driver during a road-rage confrontation while an 18-month-old child sat in the back seat, according to court documents.

Tea Party extremist Joseph “Joe” LaBarbera, 50, faces charges of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, fourth-degree unjustified display of a firearm and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, records show.

Sussex County Republicans are concerned that the arrest of their party boss will have a terrible impact on the midterm elections, which are likely to be a referendum on the incredibly unpopular President Donald Trump.

The last Democrat to win a countywide race in Sussex County was James DeBosh in 1999.

State troopers responded around 2:18 p.m. to Millbrook Road following a reported road-rage incident involving a Mercedes-Benz SUV and a Kia SUV, State Police spokesman Trooper II Christopher Postorino said.

The Kia driver told investigators the Mercedes driver had been tailgating him, prompting him to pull over and let the SUV pass, court documents state. Instead, the Mercedes driver also pulled over and the two began arguing.

LaBarbera allegedly pointed a black Sig Sauer P365X pistol at the Kia driver during the confrontation, according to charging documents. The Kia driver’s 18-month-old daughter was in the rear passenger seat, and the driver told police she was “in the direct line of fire from the pistol,” the records state.

LaBarbera told investigators a different account. He said he had been following the Kia from two or three car lengths away when its driver stopped, and that he pulled over to check whether the driver was OK. The man threatened to shoot him, LaBarbera allegedly told officers, and he then put his hand on his gun and began to unholster it, according to court records.

Officers conducted searches of both drivers and their vehicles, yielding negative results for the Kia driver, the documents state. LaBarbera was searched without incident and informed officers of a handgun in his center console, which was seized. The Kia driver’s description of the handgun allegedly pointed at his vehicle matched the one found in the Mercedes, according to court records.

LaBarbera was taken into custody in the parking lot of a local restaurant and lodged in the Morris County Jail pending a detention hearing.

LaBarbera, a retired military officer who served in the Marines and Army with deployments to Kosovo and Afghanistan, has chaired the Sussex County Republican Committee since 2023.

The day before the incident, the Tea Party extremist posted a 15-minute 9/11 tribute video to the county GOP’s Facebook page.

The charges come as gun violence continues to exact a heavy toll across the United States. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group that tracks shootings, has recorded more than 8,100 gun deaths nationwide so far in 2026, with more than 15,000 people injured . At least 545 teenagers between ages 12 and 17 have been killed and another 1,649 injured this year, according to the organization’s data.

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which reports that approximately 4.6 million minors live in homes with a loaded and unlocked firearm . The organization has documented roughly 229 unintentional shootings by children this year, resulting in 81 deaths and 156 injuries.

Moms Demand Action, a grassroots organization advocating for gun safety laws, has pushed for measures including secure firearm storage requirements, background checks and restrictions on high-capacity magazines. The group and its affiliates have celebrated recent legislative victories in states including Virginia, where a slate of gun safety bills advanced through the General Assembly this year.

Republicans have consistently refused to support legislative attempts to regulate firearms and make people safer in the United States, where gun violence is epidemic.

The Sussex County GOP and LaBarbera could not be reached for comment by phone or text but attorney Patrick P. Toscano Jr. said his firm expects to represent LaBarbera but had not been officially retained.

Three Republican state lawmakers and all five Republican Sussex County commissioners issued a joint statement calling on LaBarbera to temporarily step aside while he addresses the charges.

“For the good of the party, we believe the chairman should focus on this serious legal and personal matter, step aside, and allow the vice chair to temporarily lead the party,” said State Sen. Parker Space, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, Assemblyman Michael Inganamort and Commissioners Jill Space, Jack DeGroot, Chris Carney, Alan Henderson and David Silverthorne.

Vice Chairman Billy Marotta would lead the county GOP in LaBarbera’s absence, but the election has been viewed as a referendum on the incredibly unpopular President Donald Trump.

Beyond the federal races, Sussex County voters will weigh in on several contested county and municipal contests this November.

County clerk: Republican Christopher Carney, a county commissioner and labor leader, is running to replace retiring County Clerk Jeff Parrott. Democrats have put up Clare Golden.

County commissioner: Incumbent Republican Jack DeGroot, who unseated a sitting commissioner in the 2023 GOP primary, faces Democrat Philip DeStefano in the general election.

Republicans are uncontested in Branchville, Frankford, Franklin, Fredon, Green, Hamburg, Montague, Ogdensburg, Sandyston, Stillwater, Sussex Borough and Wantage, among other municipalities. Byram, Newton and Sparta hold nonpartisan elections this November, and Vernon has no municipal elections this year.

The marquee race in the region remains the 7th Congressional District, where two-term Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. faces a serious challenge from Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Texas Republican who served as a Navy helicopter pilot. 

The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up. Kean returned to the campaign trail in July after a monthslong absence from Congress while he was hospitalized following a nervous breakdown.

His father, former Gov. Tom Kean Sr., who cut a deal with mob-connected Hudson County Assemblyman David Freilander to become Speaker instead of a Black Democrat and whose narrow victory in the 1981 election was tainted by an armed Ballot Security Task Force intimidating voters in minority neighborhoods.

The former governor narrated a television ad falsely claiming his son worked to protect Medicare and Medicaid, despite his 2025 vote to cut healthcare coverage and food stamps for millions of Americans.

Bennett has leaned into her military background and a Democratic affordability platform that also includes gun control reform and veterans’ advocacy.

The 7th District voted for Donald Trump by one percentage point in 2024 but for Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill by two points in 2025, making Kean Jr the nation’s most vulnerable House incumbent.

Space Tattoo Controversy Resurfaces

The joint statement from Republican lawmakers calling on LaBarbera to step aside was issued by State Sen. Parker Space, among others. Space, a Sussex County Republican, has previously drawn scrutiny for a Confederate flag tattoo.

The tattoo became an issue during his 2023 Senate primary, when his Republican opponent Steve Lonegan said getting a Confederate flag tattoo after the 2015 Charleston church massacre “doesn’t make you a conservative. It makes you a fool.”

LaBarbera backed Lonegan in that comtest.

Disenchantment Runs Deep in Trump’s Base

The LaBarbera incident and the contested races unfold against a backdrop of deepening voter disillusionment with Trump, even among the white working-class voters who have formed the core of his coalition since 2016.

A CBS News poll in May found that 54 percent of white voters without a college degree disapproved of Trump’s job performance — up sharply from 32 percent in February 2025.

Among Republicans overall, strong approval of Trump fell from 49 percent in January to 35 percent in August, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling analyzed by Newsweek.

The erosion is driven overwhelmingly by economic anxiety and broken promises.

A CNN poll found that 56 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents said the economy was poor, 56 percent said Trump hadn’t gone far enough to reduce everyday prices, and 50 percent said his policies had not improved economic conditions.

A Fox News poll found Trump’s approval among Republicans at its lowest point of his presidency, with just 29 percent of all voters approving of his handling of the economy.

Voters are also disappointed by Trump’s unprovoked and illegal war with Iran, which the United States is losing, and by spreading diseases such a measles and explosive diarrhea, caused by incompetent leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services.

“They’re all crap,” Annette Dombrowski, a 64-year-old janitor and Trump voter. “I don’t even want to vote for anybody in the next election.”

The investigation into Saturday’s incident remains ongoing, State Police said.