DePhillips graduated in 1983 from Bergen Catholic High School, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in government from Georgetown University in 1987 and a juris doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1992.[6][8] From 1987 to 1989 he worked in Washington, D.C., as an aide to Congresswoman Marge Roukema. A practicing attorney, DePhillips is vice president and general counsel of Porzio Life Sciences.[9] A member of the Wyckoff Township Committee from 2010 to 2013, DePhillips was unanimously chosen by his peers to serve as the township's mayor in 2012.[6][10] Appointed in June 2012, he served until 2017 as a Commissioner of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority, which provides sewage treatment services to 75,000 residents in Bergen County.[6][11]
In June 2021, DePhillips was appointed to GOP caucus leadership, being named deputy Republican leader by NJ Assembly Republican leader Jon Bramnick.[13]
In December 2021, DePhillips introduced a bill that would allow vote-by-mail ballots to be counted as they are received, which would change the current policy that requires waiting until election day. In an NJ Assembly GOP press release promoting the bill, Dephillips stated that, "It is incumbent upon officials to fix the problems that lead to conspiracy theories. Earlier counting of mail-in votes will help address some of this year's hang-ups," referencing how, in 2021, New Jersey's gubernatorial race and some legislative races were too close to call on election night.[14]
In the 2021 New Jersey General Assembly election, DePhillips (with 45,246), together with Rooney, defeated their Democratic opponents, a team of Waldwick councilwoman Nicole McNamara (who earned 31,066 votes) and former assistant Bergen County prosecutor Genny Allard (who earned 30,606), to win re-election to his third two-year term in the General Assembly.[21][22] In Bergen County, DePhillips won with 28.09% of the 60,790 votes cast (versus Allard's 21.73% and McNamara's 21.71%),[23] in Passaic County with 30.48% of the 66,366 votes cast (versus 18.94% and 19.50%),[24] in Essex County with 29.14% of the 10,059 votes cast (versus 20.28% and 20.71%);[25] and in Morris County with 31.83% of the 15,730 votes cast (versus 17.69% and 18.07%).[26]
Leading up to the election, the New Jersey State FMBA (a union representing career firefighters, EMTs, and dispatchers) backed DePhillips in a slate of mixed Republican and Democrat endorsements.[27] The New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police, also in a politically heterogenous round of endorsements, chose to support DePhillips as well.[28]
In the November 2019 election, DePhillips (with 21,955 votes) was re-elected to his second two-year term as an assemblyman, defeating the Democratic slate of former Bergen County Freeholder Julie O'Brien (who earned 17,557 votes) and Little Falls councilwoman Maria Martini Cordonnier (who earned 17,332).[30] In Bergen County, DePhillips won with 27.84% of the 17,046 cast (versus O'Brien's 22.17% and Cordonnier's 21.63%);[31] In Passaic County with 26.97% of the 36,050 votes cast (versus 22.58% and 22.45%),[32] in Essex County with 26.71% of the 3,254 votes cast (versus 22.74% and 23.11%);[33] and in Morris County with 30.26% of the 7,666 votes cast (versus 19.25% and 19.05%).[34]
In late October 2019, DePhillips and his running mate, Kevin Rooney, skipped a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters, claiming that the question-selection process was "broken" and "unfair" because an earlier debate sponsored by the Wayne League of Women Voters had allowed, "...a local Democratic candidate to be part of a group that was screening questions and determining what questions would be asked".[35]
In the 2013 general election, the last time all three legislative seats in the 40th District were up for vote simultaneously, the winners were Kevin J. O'Toole in the Senate and Scott Rumana and David C. Russo in the Assembly. By the 2017 primaries all would be gone, with O'Toole resigning in 2017 to become a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (being replaced by Kristin Corrado), Rumana leaving in 2016 to become a judge in New Jersey Superior Court (and be replaced By Kevin J. Rooney) and Russo's announcement that he would not run for another term of office, leaving a vacuum that led to a series of primary challenges. In the June 2017 Republican primary for the two Assembly seats, Rooney and DePhillips withstood a challenge from Joseph Bubba Jr. and the comeback attempt of former State Senator Norman M. Robertson by margins of 2–1; Kristin Corrado won the Senate nomination against former Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano.[37] Since 1973, the 40th District has always leaned Republican, never electing a Democrat through the 2017 general election.[38] However, a poll conducted by Democrats shortly before the election showed the two slates tied at 39%, with 21% of voters undecided.[39] In the November 2017 general election, DePhillips (with 30,610 votes; 26.3% of all ballots cast) and his running mate, incumbent Kevin J. Rooney (with 31,170; 26.8%), defeated Democratic challengers Christine Ordway (27,092; 23.3%) and Paul Vagianos (26,737; 23.0%) to win both Assembly seats from the district for the Republicans.[40][41]
^Johnson, Brent. "Meet your brand-new state Legislature taking office today, Jersey", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 9, 2018. Accessed January 22, 2018. "David C. Russo, a Republican member of the Assembly from Bergen County who did not seek re-election after 28 years.... Chris DePhillips, a Republican who will succeed Russo in north Jersey's 40th District.
^Nesi, Chris. "Four are vying for two seats on the governing body", Wyckoff Suburban News, October 22, 2009. Accessed December 25, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Christopher P. DePhillips.... Education: B.A., Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; Seton Hall University School of Law, Newark; Bergen Catholic High School, Oradell, 1983"
^Cowen, Richard. "Corrado slate wins GOP nod in 40th District", The Record, June 6, 2017. Accessed January 22, 2018. "Passaic County Clerk Kristin Corrado and her Bergen County running mates Kevin Rooney and Christopher DePhillips on Tuesday won the Republican primary in the 40th Legislative District, ending the comeback bids of Paul DiGaetano and Norman Robertson.... Corrado's running mates, Rooney and DePhillips, also beat their opponents in the race for state Assembly, Robertson and Joseph Bubba Jr., by margins of better than 2 to 1."
^Hetrick, Christian. "Democratic Poll Shows Close Assembly Race in Unlikely District", The New York Observer, November 6, 2017. Accessed January 22, 2018. "Republicans have dominated Assembly races in New Jersey's 40th legislative district going back at least four decades, but they could be in trouble this year, according to a poll commissioned by Democrats. Democratic Assembly candidates Christine Ordway and Paul Vagianos are tied with Assemblyman Kevin Rooney (R-Bergen) and his GOP running mate, Christopher DePhillips, according to an internal poll of likely voters. The Democratic and Republican tickets each got 39 percent support in the survey by Public Policy Polling, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points and showed that 21 percent of respondents were undecided."
^Cowen, Richard. "Democratic turnout, money factors in Republican losses in Bergen and Passaic counties", The Record, November 9, 2017. Accessed January 22, 2018. "The split in the ranks of the Passaic Republicans is in part the result of the political dogfight in District 40. Former Passaic County Clerk Kristin Corrado captured the state Senate seat in District 40, beating Tom Duch. Her two Republican running mates for Assembly, Kevin Rooney and Chris DePhillips, both of Wyckoff, also beat back a challenge from Democrats Christine Ordway and Paul Vagianos."
