Joshua Riley

Joshua Paul Riley (born January 21, 1981) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 19th congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously worked as a policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Labor and as counsel on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. His district covers the southeastern part of Upstate New York, which includes rural areas and the cities of Ithaca and Binghamton.

Early life and education Joshua Paul Riley was born on January 21, 1981, in Endicott, New York, to Paul and Barbara Riley. He 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.

During college, Riley worked as an aide to U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey, whom he credited with inspiring his interest in public service. After graduating, he worked as a policy analyst at the United States Department of Labor, focusing on unemployment and trade adjustment programs. Riley later returned to Boies Schiller Flexner, where he became a partner and remained until 2021. 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.

The old 19th 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. 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.

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. 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.

2024

In November 2024, Riley was the Democratic nominee in a rematch against incumbent Republican Representative Marc Molinaro for New York's 19th congressional district. He won with 51.1% of the vote to Molinaro’s 48.8%, and contributed to a broader Democratic win in New York state, where the party flipped three House seats.

Tenure

Riley was sworn into office on January 3, 2025, and was assigned to the House Committees on Agriculture and on Science, Space, and Technology.

As one of his first votes, Riley joined 44 other Democratic and 198 Republican representatives to pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. The act would impose sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) officials who attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the U.S. or its allies, in response to the ICC issuing warrants for Israeli officials.

Amid an ongoing avian flu outbreak in New York state, Riley introduced bipartisan legislation to expand financial aid to all poultry producers within affected control zones, with the aim to support family farms, contain the virus, and lower grocery costs for consumers. He subsequently sponsored the Lowering Egg Prices Act, a bipartisan bill to ease federal refrigeration regulations that do not distinguish between fresh and pasteurized eggs, which Riley says contributes to the annual waste of 400 million otherwise usable eggs.

In December 2025, Riley voted against a bill to reopen the federal government. After the federal government was reopened, primarily with Republican votes, after a 43-day shutdown, Riley expressed support for the inclusion of provisions that included $2.6 million in projects in his district.

Committee assignments For the 119th Congress:

Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture (Vice Ranking Member)