Joseph Lagana

Joseph A. Lagana (born December 15, 1978) is an American Democratic Party politician who has represented the 38th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 2014.

Lagana was raised in Ridgefield where he served on the borough's planning board. He attended Fordham University where he received a B.A. in history in 2000 and later attended the Thomas M. 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.

In April 2009, he moved to Paramus. Lagana and his Democratic running mate defeated two incumbent Republican councilmembers in the Paramus borough council elections of 2011. Lagana served as a Councilman for Paramus, New Jersey. After Democrats gained a majority of the six-person borough council after the 2012 elections, Lagana was named council president in January 2013.

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. In the Assembly, he serves on the Appropriations Committee, the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, and the Judiciary Committee.

He is married to Jamie Lagana and has two daughters.