| Aura Dunn has been an assemblywoman since 2019, serving as assistant Republican whip since January 2022.
She was re-elected in 2020 earning more than 64,000 votes - the most in state history for an Assembly race, and defeated her Democrat opponents in 2021 by an even larger margin.
She joined the Assembly after a 25-year career in government and public affairs. She was the district director for 12-term Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen from 2016 to 2019, a budget analyst on education policy for the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee from 1997 to 2000, and a policy advisor for the House Veterans Affairs Committee. She also represented America's Public Television Stations, Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood before Congress and the White House.
One of Dunn's proudest accomplishments from her time on Capitol Hill was her work on the Campus Crime Disclosure Act, better known as the Clery Act. The landmark legislation requires colleges and universities to issue on-campus crime statistics and security information.
Dunn founded the New Jersey Legislative Disability Caucus and was appointed to the Human Relations Council and Women's Re-entry Commission. She served on the boards of Morris Habitat for Humanity and Morris County Mental Health Addictions Services. She volunteers as a JBWS-certified domestic violence crisis response team member for local police departments. Since 2010, her family has hosted a New York City child each summer through the Fresh Air Fund program.
She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University. Dunn also holds a certificate in mediation.
She lives in Mendham with her husband and their three children. |