Joann Kagan Downey (born October 31, 1966) is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who represented the 11th Legislative District 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 2016 to 2022.

Early life

Downey was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

in 1988, where she studied Political Science and English, a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include Ed ...

in June 1991 and a Masters of Social Work from Boston University School of Social Work in 2005. After graduating from

Freehold Township High School Freehold Township High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Freehold Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, and is part of the Freehold Regional High School District. The school serves students f ...

, Downey was accepted to the

New Jersey State Police The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors. History As with other state police organizati ...

, inspired by her father, who was a New Jersey State Trooper. Downey ultimately decided to pursue law school and prosecutorial work instead. She went on to serve as Deputy State Attorney General, working in the Department of Children and Families. Downey cites this experience as the impetus that moved her to work toward her Masters in Social Work.

New Jersey Assembly

Downey was elected to the General Assembly alongside running mate Eric Houghtaling in November 2015. Their narrow victory was considered by many to be an unexpected upset. In July 2018 Downey and fellow Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling accused fellow Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso of violating the Truth-In-Caller ID while sending out robocalls. In 2021, Downey and Houghtaling narrowly lost their reelection bids in an upset to Republican candidates Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner.

Committees

*Human Services *Financial Institutions and Insurance

Electoral history

Assembly

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Joann 1966 births Living people Freehold Township High School alumni Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from Freehold Township, New Jersey Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Politicians from Monmouth County, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni New York Law School alumni Boston University School of Social Work alumni 21st-century American politicians