Joseph A. Lagana (born December 15, 1978) is an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who has represented the 38th Legislative District in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

since 2018. He served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from 2014 to 2018.

Personal

Lagana was raised in Ridgefield and graduated from Ridgefield Memorial High School. He attended

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, where he received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in history in 2000 and later attended the

Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Cooley Law School (Cooley) is a private law school in Lansing, Michigan, and Riverview, Florida. It was established in 1972. At its peak in 2010, Cooley had over 3,900 students and was the largest US law school by enrollment; as of the spring of ...

where he received his J.D. in 2004. He has served as a clerk to Superior Court Judge John A. Conte before joining Chasan Leyner & Lamparello, a law firm in

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 census count of 16,264, which in turn reflected an in ...

as a partner. He served on the Ridgefield planning board. He is married to Jamie Lagana and has three daughters.

Paramus borough council

In April 2009, he moved to

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

. Lagana and his Democratic running mate defeated two

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Republican councilmembers in the Paramus borough council elections of 2011. After Democrats gained a majority of the six-person borough council after the 2012 elections, Lagana was named council president in January 2013.

New Jersey General Assembly

Lagana declared his candidacy for the 38th district in the November 2013 elections, to succeed Connie Wagner, who was not running for reelection. When Wagner resigned in September, Lagana indicated that he was not interested in filling the remainder of her term; 38th District Democrats chose former assemblyman and

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Paul Contillo to fill the remainder of her term. Lagana won the election and was sworn in on January 14, 2014, at the start of the 2014 session. Lagana served as the Assembly's deputy parliamentarian from 2016 to 2017.

New Jersey Senate

After Robert M. Gordon resigned on April 4, 2018, to become a commissioner of the

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) is a regulatory authority in New Jersey "with authority to oversee the regulated utilities, which in turn provide critical services such as natural gas, electricity, water, telecommunications and c ...

, Lagana was appointed to the Senate on April 12, 2018, to fill the vacancy. He won a November 6, 2018, special election to complete Gordon's unexpired term, defeating Republican Daisy Ortiz Berger.

Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Senator Joseph Lagana

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

. Accessed January 30, 2024. *Labor (as chair) *Judiciary

District 38

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

and two members in the

. The representatives from the 38th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 38

. Accessed January 30, 2024. * Senator Joseph Lagana (D) * Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (D) * Assemblyman Chris Tully (D)

Electoral history

Senate

General Assembly

References

External links

New Jersey Legislature web page
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lagana, Joseph 1978 births 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Fordham University alumni Living people New Jersey city council members Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Lawyers from Bergen County, New Jersey Democratic Party New Jersey state senators People from Paramus, New Jersey Politicians from Ridgefield, New Jersey Place of birth missing (living people) Ridgefield Memorial High School alumni Western Michigan University Cooley Law School alumni 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature