# Joseph Lagana

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 since 2018. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2014 to 2018.

## Personal

Lagana was raised in Ridgefield and graduated from Ridgefield Memorial High School. He attended Fordham University, where he received a B.A. in history in 2000 and later attended the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School 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 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. Lagana and his Democratic running mate defeated two incumbent 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 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, 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:
* Labor (as chair)
* Judiciary

### District 38

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The representatives from the 38th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:
* Senator Joseph Lagana (D)
* Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (D)
* Assemblyman Chris Tully (D)

## Electoral history
### Senate

38th Legislative District General Election, 2023 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joseph A. Lagana (incumbent) | 28,447 | 57.1 |
| | Republican | Micheline B. Attieh | 21,361 | 42.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 49,808 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |
38th Legislative District general election, 2021 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joseph A. Lagana (incumbent) | 34,895 | 52.90 |
| | Republican | Richard Garcia | 31,069 | 47.10 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 65,964 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |
38th Legislative District special election, 2018 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joseph A. Lagana (incumbent) | 48,451 | 60.1 |
| | Republican | Daisy Ortiz Berger | 32,140 | 39.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 80,591 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### General Assembly

38th Legislative District general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Joseph A. Lagana (incumbent) | 30,800 | 29.3 | 0.2 |
| | Democratic | Tim Eustace (incumbent) | 30,727 | 29.2 | 0.1 |
| | Republican | William Leonard | 21,541 | 20.5 | 1.4 |
| | Republican | Christopher B. Wolf | 21,525 | 20.5 | 0.6 |
| | Independent- NJ Awakens | Dev Goswami | 533 | 0.5 | N/A |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 105,126 | 100.0 | |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |
38th Legislative District general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Tim Eustace (incumbent) | 19,563 | 29.1 |
| | Democratic | Joseph Lagana (incumbent) | 19,511 | 29.0 |
| | Republican | Mark DiPisa | 14,721 | 21.9 |
| | Republican | Anthony Cappola | 13,339 | 19.8 |
| | Write-ins | Personal choice | 95 | 0.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 67,229 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |
38th Legislative District general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Joseph Lagana | 26,279 | 25.2 |
| | Democratic | Tim Eustace (incumbent) | 26,021 | 25.0 |
| | Republican | Joseph Scarpa | 25,965 | 24.9 |
| | Republican | Joan Fragala | 25,836 | 24.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 104,101 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |