(TRENTON) – State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio today announced that James Carey, a veteran of the Attorney General’s Office, has been appointed the new Executive Director of the New Jersey Lottery. Carey will officially take over the helm on July 23 as Acting Executive Director while his nomination awaits advice and consent from the State Senate.
“We are excited to have someone of James’s caliber and commitment joining our team,” said Muoio. “He has proven himself to be a dedicated public servant with a sharp legal mind and vast institutional knowledge of state government. We are confident that his stewardship will be marked by efficiency, integrity and a commitment to ensuring that the New Jersey Lottery remains a stable source of funding for our pension system and many worthwhile programs and services.”
Carey first began serving the Attorney General’s Office in 2001. In 2005 he joined the Governor’s Office of Legal Counsel and went on to serve as the Director of the Authorities Unit during the Corzine administration, where he was responsible for overseeing the operations of the various independent authorities, including the New Jersey Lottery, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Turnpike, and the Economic Development Authority. He returned to the Attorney General’s Office in 2010 as a Deputy Attorney General and has been serving as the Section Chief of the Banking and Insurance Section since 2015. In that capacity, he served as primary legal counsel to the Department of Banking and Insurance and managed all litigation involving the department.
A former state prosecutor, Carey brings a wealth of experience in New Jersey government. He is a graduate of Seton Hall Law School, where he was an editor on the Law Review.
“As a lifetime resident of New Jersey and a career public servant, I know how important the Lottery is to our State and its economy, and now to the pensions of so many state employees,” said Carey. “I am looking forward to joining the Lottery and working to keep it one of the best and strongest performing lotteries in the country.”
The New Jersey Lottery began operating in 1970 and today is one of the top ten revenue producing lotteries in the country. With sales now topping $3 billion, the Lottery supports many worthwhile state programs and services in addition to bolstering the State’s public employee pension systems through a 30-year contribution agreement that was enacted in 2017.