Peter Oberacker

Biography & Campaign Analysis

Background

Peter Oberacker was born in Merrick, New York, and graduated from SUNY Delhi in 1983. After college he joined his father, also named Peter Oberacker, in operating Spicey Pete's Meats, a market in Schenevus, and became a research chef and food scientist specializing in meat products.

He later helped launch the company FormTech Solutions. Oberacker and his wife, Shannon, have two children and four grandchildren; they live in Schenevus, where he is a member of the local fire department and EMS squad.

Career

Oberacker began in local government on the Maryland Town Board, serving two terms before his election as town supervisor, and after two terms as supervisor he became an Otsego County legislator.

In 2020, encouraged by retiring senator James Seward, he ran for the 51st State Senate district and won with 55.4% of the vote, taking office in January 2021. His first bill approved by the senate designated baseball as the official state sport of New York.

He has introduced a "Ratepayer Bill of Rights" package covering utility billing and outage compensation, co-sponsored the New York Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act, and served on the Senate Republicans' antisemitism working group.

2026 race

Peter Oberacker announced his campaign for New York's 19th congressional district in October 2025, challenging Democratic incumbent Josh Riley, who flipped the district in 2024 with 51.1% of the vote.

He won the Republican primary with 77.4% of the vote against small business owner Alexander Portelli and also appears on the Conservative Party line.

In August 2026 a 2015 Facebook post resurfaced in which he marked Veterans Day with a memorial to his grandfather, who died fighting for Nazi Germany in the Battle of the Bulge, and the post drew criticism.

He faces Riley, who also holds the Working Families Party line, in the general election on November 3, 2026.