Bill Weber is a certified public accountant from Montebello who has represented most of Rockland County in the state Senate since 2023. A Republican in the Senate minority, he lost his first Senate race in 2020, then beat the same Democrat twice, and now faces Nyack Mayor Joe Rand on Nov. 3.
So who is Bill Weber, what has he passed, and why is his race now a fight over debates? The record runs through local tax bills, property tax breaks for Orthodox Jewish institutions, votes against most state budgets, a school funding plan that never left committee, and a challenger who says he outraised him.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Republican (also on the Conservative line)
- Hometown
- Montebello, N.Y. (raised in Pearl River)
- Date of Birth
- Not confirmed in official biographies reviewed
- Current Position
- New York State Senator, 38th District
- Background
- Certified public accountant; chief financial officer of a local company
- In Office Since
- January 2023
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Weber grew up in Pearl River, according to the Rockland County Times, and calls himself a lifelong Rockland resident in his Senate biography. His father is a retired NYPD lieutenant and past president of the Rockland County Shields, and his brothers have served in the NYPD, according to the Rockland County Times.
He earned a degree in public accountancy from Pace University in 1991 and became a CPA in 1994. He and his wife, Lisa, who was acting superintendent of the Suffern Central School District in 2020, have four children and have lived in Montebello since 2007. PagPol could not confirm his birthplace or exact date of birth in an official source.
ACCOUNTANT AND LOCAL CANDIDATE, 1991 TO 2019
Weber worked as an accountant at Grassi & Co. from 1991 to 2000, then became chief financial officer of Turco Enterprises, a local business with more than 130 employees, according to a 2017 Rockland County Times profile. In 2007 he opened his own accounting practice in Montebello.
In November 2016 he ran for a vacant Ramapo Town Council seat and lost to Democrat Michael Rossman, 23,969 to 12,998, in unofficial results, according to the Daily Voice. In 2017 he ran for Ramapo supervisor on a reform slate and lost to Democrat Michael Specht. PagPol could not find the 2017 vote totals.
LOSING AND WINNING THE SENATE SEAT, 2020 TO 2022
In 2020 Weber ran for the 38th Senate District. “I am looking to use my expertise and knowledge to bring a common-sense approach to Albany,” he said. He won the Republican primary over Matthew Weinberg, 4,617 to 1,884, according to certified primary results. “I’d like to rip it up and start from scratch,” he said of the state’s bail law.
He led on election night that November, then fell behind as absentee ballots were counted. Democrat Elijah Reichlin-Melnick won 70,809 to 60,955, according to certified 2020 results. In 2022, under new district lines covering Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Orangetown, and Ramapo, Weber ran again.
2024 winning margin, Hudson Valley state senators
WeberDemocratic senators
Margin in percentage points between each winner and the runner-up in the 2024 general election. Weber is the only Republican in the group. His share of the two-candidate vote in the 38th District rose from 46.3 percent in 2020 to 51.6 percent in 2022 and 53.7 percent in 2024. Source: state Board of Elections certified results.
On Nov. 8, 2022, Weber beat Reichlin-Melnick 51,085 to 47,872, a margin of 3,213 votes, according to certified 2022 results. The Journal News credited much of the win to Orthodox Jewish voters in Ramapo. “I’m here to represent everyone equally and fairly in the district,” Weber told the Jewish Link.
THE FIRST TERM, 2023 TO 2024
Weber took office in January 2023 and voted against every bill in that spring’s budget. “This budget is a failure. Period,” he said, adding, “They really are coming for your gas stoves and furnaces!” of the state’s gas hookup ban, according to his Senate office.
In July 2023 his bill extending Rockland’s additional sales tax, S6029, was signed as Chapter 225 of 2023 after passing the Senate 52 to 10. His bill S4510A, with Assemblyman Karl Brabenec, would have the state pay for services and busing for private school students in districts like East Ramapo. It died in the Education Committee.
The Village of Haverstraw and the Hudson River seen from High Tor. Haverstraw is one of four Rockland towns in Weber’s 38th District. (Photo: Thomas McGuire, Free Art License, via Wikimedia Commons)
In March 2024 Weber wrote against the NY HEAT Act, saying it had “absolutely no mechanism” for families to recover its costs. In April he voted against the final budget bill. That spring Democratic Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, who backed a state takeover of East Ramapo’s finances, dismissed Weber’s school plan and other alternatives as “tinkering around the edges,” according to the Journal News.
In September 2024 Gov. Kathy Hochul signed two Weber bills granting retroactive property tax exemptions to Orthodox Jewish institutions in Monsey, Congregation RSK and Kolel Rachmistrivka, as Chapters 381 and 410 of 2024. Each passed the Senate 59 to 1, with Republican Sen. Tom O’Mara opposed. Weber promoted them in ads in Orthodox media, according to Shtetl.
Days before the election he told the Rockland County Times, “For too long, [public and private] schools have been fighting over the same dollar.” On Nov. 5, 2024, Weber beat Reichlin-Melnick again, 69,278 to 59,750, with Working Families candidate Barbara Francis taking 3,099, according to certified 2024 results.
THE SECOND TERM, 2025 TO 2026
In May 2025 Weber opposed the public protection and transportation budget bills but backed the education bill, which passed 44 to 18 over most Republicans’ objections. In August his sales tax extension, S6337, became Chapter 292 of 2025. In November his bill letting Orangetown create a land preservation fund paid for by a real estate transfer tax, S6338, became Chapter 518.
The New York State Association of Realtors opposed the Orangetown transfer tax. In December, Rand, a lawyer and real estate executive elected Nyack’s mayor in 2023, launched his campaign with the endorsement of Reichlin-Melnick, who chose not to run again.
Main Street in the Village of Nyack in June 2026. Weber’s Democratic challenger, Joe Rand, has been Nyack’s mayor since 2023. (Photo: Mr. Matté, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
In March 2026 the Realtors group objected to a similar Clarkstown tax. “New York is in the midst of a housing supply and affordability crisis,” it said, according to the Rockland County Business Journal. In May Weber again backed the education budget bill, which passed 58 to 3, and opposed the public protection bill.
That summer Hochul signed his Clarkstown bills: a transfer tax for land preservation, S10276A, as Chapter 191; a tax shift limit, S9060, as Chapter 187; and a cell tower lease, S10522A, as Chapter 276. Democratic Assemblyman Patrick Carroll carried the first two in the Assembly.
In October a dispute over debates took over the race. Rand accepted three debate invitations while Weber had accepted none, according to Rockland News. “If you’re asking people for their votes, you should be willing to answer their questions,” wrote anchor Robert Jowaiszas. Weber pointed to two forums and a debate set for Nov. 1 at the New City Jewish Center.
THE DISTRICT AND THE PARTY MATH
The 38th District covers the Rockland towns of Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Orangetown, and Ramapo. PagPol could not find official enrollment for the district. Rockland as a whole has 92,123 enrolled Democrats and 52,960 Republicans out of 211,600 voters, according to 2026 state figures in PagPol’s Data Spine, and Donald Trump carried the county with about 55 percent in 2024.
Democrats hold 41 of the Senate’s 63 seats, one short of a two-thirds supermajority, and also control the Assembly and governor’s office. Rand’s pitch rests on that. “I am running to be that Majority voice,” he said, according to the Rockland County Times. Democratic campaign chair Sen. Shelley Mayer is backing him.
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Weber is the ranking Republican on the Budget and Revenue Committee and the Disabilities Committee, according to his Senate biography. He also sits on Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Education, and Finance, where he votes on budget bills before they reach the floor.
He was part of the Senate Republicans’ antisemitism working group, which issued a report in March 2024. His Senate biography says he is one of two state legislators who are CPAs. In 2026 he introduced bills on services for people with developmental disabilities, including Prader-Willi syndrome.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
Weber says high taxes and the cost of living drew him into politics. His 2020 platform called for repealing bail reform, cutting unfunded mandates, reviewing the budget line by line, and term limits. “I don’t want to see politicians remain in office for decades and become out of touch with their constituents,” he said that year, according to the Examiner News.
He wants the state, not local taxpayers, to cover the cost of private school busing and services in districts with large private school populations. He opposes congestion pricing and New York’s push to phase out gas appliances. He opposed a proposed county limit on cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Weber and Rand each received $375,000 in public matching funds for the general election, according to PagPol’s tally of the state’s matching funds distributions. Weber’s money arrived in three separate payments: $281,582 in June, $73,651 in July, and $19,766 in August.
Rand’s campaign says it raised $33,705 from July through September to Weber’s $20,028, and that Weber had 12 individual donors in that period, according to the Rockland Post. PagPol could not verify those figures or find either campaign’s spending and cash on hand.
First 2026 general election matching fund payments to incumbent state senators
WeberOther incumbent senators
Each senator’s first public matching fund payment for the 2026 general election. Weber later received two more payments, bringing his general election total to $375,000. Source: New York State Public Campaign Finance Board.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
Weber’s biggest legislative wins have been narrow: local tax measures and tax breaks for Orthodox institutions, three signed and a fourth, S10134, passed by both houses in 2026. Critics of his campaign have focused on access. “As far as I know, the Senator has refused,” Rand said of debates, according to Monsey Scoop.
A poll for Weber’s campaign by McLaughlin & Associates in August showed him leading 53 percent to 35 percent, but it was not independent. PagPol found no ethics complaints or lawsuits against Weber. The Rockland News, which issued one debate invitation, is itself a party to the debate dispute.
Rockland Lake in Rockland Lake State Park, in the Town of Clarkstown. (Photo: Jondude11, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Weber campaigns as a tax cutter, yet he sponsored two Rockland sales tax extensions and two new town transfer taxes, all now law. All four were home rule requests from local governments, which asked for them. His promise of fairer school funding for private school families has not passed, while his tax exemption bills have.
He calls himself a fiscal watchdog, and he opposed every 2023 budget bill. Since 2025 he has voted for the education bills that carry school aid while opposing others. For another Hudson Valley senator’s record, see PagPol’s profile of Shelley Mayer.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE DISTRICT
An April 2025 comptroller East Ramapo review found the school district’s unassigned fund balance had reached $31.3 million, more than twice the legal limit, and that its budget relied on $20.7 million in one-time money. The district sits at the center of Weber’s school funding fight.
The comptroller also reviews each Rockland County budget, a requirement of the 2013 state law that let the county borrow to erase its deficit. A November 2023 county budget review found the county’s 2024 projections reasonable but urged it to keep its levy within the state tax cap unless properly overridden.
LOOKING AHEAD
Weber faces Rand on Nov. 3, 2026. “I will be delighted to debate Senator Weber anytime, anyplace,” Rand said. “I look forward to our debate at the New City Jewish Center later this month,” Weber said. For more, visit PagPol’s Rockland County page or subscribe to the Rockland County newsletter.
