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Joann Downey
Joann Downey (Democratic Party) was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 11. She assumed office in 2016. She left office on January 11, 2022.
Downey (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 11. She lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Biography
Downey earned her B.A. in political science and English from Rutgers University, her M.S.W. from Boston University School of Social Work, and her J.D. from New York Law School. Her professional experience includes working as a trial attorney for Dimian & Masterpalo.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020-2021
Downey was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Downey was assigned to the following committees:
2016 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Downey served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2016 |
|---|
| • Financial Institutions and Insurance |
| • Regulated Professions |
| • Women and Children |
Sponsored legislation
Elections
2021
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 (2 seats)
Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner defeated incumbent Joann Downey, incumbent Eric Houghtaling, and Dominique Faison in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Marilyn Piperno (R) | 25.1 | 35,336 |
| ✔ |  | Kim Eulner (R) | 24.9 | 35,177 |
 | Joann Downey (D) | 24.7 | 34,830 | |
 | Eric Houghtaling (D) | 24.5 | 34,555 | |
 | Dominique Faison (G) | 0.8 | 1,152 | |
| Total votes: 141,050 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 (2 seats)
Incumbent Eric Houghtaling and incumbent Joann Downey advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eric Houghtaling | 50.1 | 7,836 |
| ✔ | | Joann Downey | 49.9 | 7,816 |
| Total votes: 15,652 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 (2 seats)
Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marilyn Piperno | 50.6 | 7,201 |
| ✔ | | Kim Eulner | 49.4 | 7,017 |
| Total votes: 14,218 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2019
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 (2 seats)
Incumbent Joann Downey and incumbent Eric Houghtaling defeated Michael Amoroso and Matthew Woolley in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joann Downey (D) | 26.6 | 23,151 |
| ✔ | | Eric Houghtaling (D) | 26.6 | 23,083 |
 | Michael Amoroso (R) | 23.8 | 20,670 | |
| Matthew Woolley (R) | 23.0 | 20,002 | ||
| Total votes: 86,906 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 (2 seats)
Incumbent Joann Downey and incumbent Eric Houghtaling advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joann Downey | 50.2 | 4,133 |
| ✔ | | Eric Houghtaling | 49.8 | 4,097 |
| Total votes: 8,230 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 (2 seats)
Michael Amoroso and Matthew Woolley advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 11 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Amoroso | 50.4 | 3,224 |
| ✔ | Matthew Woolley | 49.6 | 3,169 | |
| Total votes: 6,393 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
General election
Elections for the New Jersey General Assembly took place in 2017. All 80 seats were up for election. State assembly members are elected to two-year terms. The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on June 6, 2017. The filing deadline for the primary election was April 3, 2017.[2] Legislative districts in the New Jersey General Assembly are multi-member districts, with two representatives in each district. In Democratic and Republican primary elections, the top two candidates move forward to the general election, and the top two candidates in the general election are declared the winners.[3] Incumbent Joann Downey (D) and incumbent Eric Houghtaling (D) defeated Robert Acerra (R) and Michael Whelan (R) in the New Jersey General Assembly District 11 general election.[4][5]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 11 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Joann Downey Incumbent |
27.65% | 31,347 | |
| Democratic | Eric Houghtaling Incumbent |
27.36% | 31,012 | |
| Republican | Robert Acerra | 22.65% | 25,672 | |
| Republican | Michael Whelan | 22.34% | 25,320 | |
| Total Votes | 113,351 | |||
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||||
Races we watched
Ballotpedia identified eight races to watch in the New Jersey General Assembly 2017 elections: three seats with two Democratic members, three seats with two Republican members, and two seats split between the parties. Based on analysis of these districts' electoral histories, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly have led to shifts in a chamber's partisan balance.
This district was a Race to Watch because both of the incumbents' margins of victory in the previous election were five points or less. Incumbents Eric Houghtaling (D) and Joann Downey (D) ran for re-election in 2017. Both were first elected in 2015 when they defeated Republican incumbents Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande. Houghtaling and Downey received 25.6 percent of the vote and 25.2 percent, respectively. Angelini and Casagrande received 24.8 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively. District 11 was one of 28 New Jersey state legislative districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton carried District 11 by 6.7 points. In 2012, Democrat Barack Obama won District 11 by 11.0 points. As of 2017, District 11 included parts of Monmouth County.
Democratic primary election
Incumbent Joann Downey and incumbent Eric Houghtaling defeated Aasim Johnson in the New Jersey General Assembly District 11 Democratic primary election.[6][7]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 11 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Joann Downey Incumbent |
50.68% | 8,889 |
| Eric Houghtaling Incumbent |
49.32% | 8,652 |
| Aasim Johnson | 0.00% | 0 |
| Total Votes | 17,541 | |
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||
Republican primary election
Robert Acerra and Michael Whelan were unopposed in the New Jersey General Assembly District 11 Republican primary election.[8][7]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 11 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Robert Acerra |
50.47% | 4,949 |
| Michael Whelan |
49.53% | 4,856 |
| Total Votes | 9,805 | |
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||
2015
Elections for the New Jersey General Assembly took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 2, 2015. The general election took place on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2015.[9] Since the general assembly uses multi-member districts, the top two candidates from each party in the primaries advanced to the general election. Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Mary Pat Angelini and incumbent Caroline Casagrande were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Republican primary. Houghtaling and Downey defeated Angelini and Casagrande in the general election.[10][11][12][13][14]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 11 General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Eric Houghtaling |
25.6% | 15,149 | |
| Democratic | Joann Downey |
25.2% | 14,906 | |
| Republican | Mary Pat Angelini Incumbent | 24.8% | 14,653 | |
| Republican | Caroline Casagrande Incumbent | 24.4% | 14,418 | |
| Total Votes | 59,126 | |||
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joann Downey did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Joann Downey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Downey's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New Jersey scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021
In 2021, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 4 to January 11.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 14 to December 17.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9, 2018, through January 14, 2020.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9 through January 8, 2019.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 217th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 10 through January 9, 2018.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 217th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 12 through January 10, 2017.
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See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New Jersey Legislature, "Joann Downey," accessed May 8, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Secretary of State, "2017 Primary Election Timeline," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly for Primary Election, June 6, 2017," accessed April 13, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Candidates for General Assembly for General Election 11/07/2017 Election," accessed September 14, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2017 official general election results," accessed November 30, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official Candidate List," April 6, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 New Jersey Division of Elections, “2017 official primary election results for general assembly,” accessed July 13, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official Candidate List," April 6, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of Elections, "2015 Primary Election Timeline," accessed February 2, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official candidate list for June 2 primary," accessed May 22, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official list for candidate for General Assembly," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official primary results for General Assembly," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official general election results for General Assembly," accessed December 7, 2015
