| Josh Riley | |
| Birth Name: | Joshua Paul Riley |
| Birth Date: | [1] |
| Birth Place: | Endicott, New York, U.S. |
| State: | New York |
| Term Start: | January 3, 2025 |
| Succeeding: | Marc Molinaro |
| Education: | College of William & Mary (BS) Harvard University (JD) |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Children: | 2 |
Joshua Paul Riley[2] (born 1980/1981) is an American lawyer and politician who is the member-elect for the United States House of Representatives for New York's 19th congressional district. He is a member of the Democratic Party.[3]
Riley was born in Endicott, New York, to Paul and Barbara Riley.[4] [5]
Riley graduated from Union-Endicott High School in 1999 and earned a bachelor's degree in government and economics from the College of William & Mary in 2003.[6] [7] [8] He worked as an aide to U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey during college and said the late congressman inspired him to go into public service.[9] After graduation, he worked as a policy analyst at the United States Department of Labor where he worked on unemployment and trade adjustment program.[9] He began attending Harvard Law School in 2004 and worked as a Heyman Fellow on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.[8] [7] He also volunteered for a legal aid clinic to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.[4] He graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2007 and was presented the Dean's Award for Community Leadership by then-Dean of Harvard Law School and current U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.[4] [8]
After law school, Riley worked in the law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP as an associate from 2007 to 2009.[8] From 2009 to 2010, he clerked for Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California.[8] [4] He returned to Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in 2010 before leaving again in 2011 to become general counsel to Senator Al Franken on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.[6] [10] In 2014, he returned to Boies Schiller Flexner LLP where he worked as a counselor and later partner until 2021.[6] He most recently worked as a partner in the law firm of Jenner & Block.[6]
In November 2021, Riley declared his candidacy for Congress in New York's 22nd congressional district, challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Claudia Tenney.[11] Due to redistricting, redrawing of the map by a court-appointed special master, and U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado resigning to become the Lieutenant Governor of New York, Riley ended up running in the new 19th congressional district.[12] The district was represented by Pat Ryan, a Democrat, who won the August special election to succeed Delgado but ran in the new New York's 18th congressional district in the November general election due to redistricting.[13] The 18th district became vacant when incumbent U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney decided to run in the neighboring 17th congressional district after redistricting, which forced out U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones, the incumbent of the 17th district.[14]
Riley defeated Dutchess County businesswoman Jamie Cheney in the Democratic primary and faced Republican nominee and Dutchess County executive Marc Molinaro in the general election.[15] Molinaro lost the August special election to Pat Ryan for the old 19th district, but was on the ballot again in November for the new 19th district.[15] Molinaro defeated Riley in the general election.[16]
Riley defeated Molinaro in a rematch in the general election.[17]
Riley married Monica Kohli in Washington, D.C., in 2016. They reside in Ithaca, New York, with their two sons.[18] [4]