Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill has announced the nomination of Jennifer L. Davenport to serve as New Jersey’s next Attorney General. If confirmed, Davenport would become the state’s 63rd Attorney General, succeeding Matt Platkin, who has held the role since 2022.
Davenport currently serves as senior director of compliance for Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), where she oversees the company’s enterprise-wide compliance program and manages corporate ethics and compliance operations. Her background includes extensive experience in law enforcement and public service. She previously served as First Assistant Attorney General for New Jersey from 2018 to 2020 and again from 2021 to 2022. Davenport has also acted as the Attorney General’s Principal Law Enforcement Advisor and Acting Union County Prosecutor.
Her federal experience includes serving as Division Counsel to the New Jersey Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and seven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where she was Chief of the General Crimes Unit.
Sherrill said, “A strong Attorney General is critical to delivering for New Jerseyans, whether that taking on price gougers, fighting for federal resources, or protecting our rights and freedoms. That’s why I’m excited to announce Jennifer Davenport as my Attorney General nominee. Working with Jen at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, I saw her ironclad commitment to upholding the law and the Constitution. Equally as powerful is her dedication to public service, working hand-in-hand with the communities she served to ensure our residents felt safe and supported. Jen’s ability to work with anyone and everyone to deliver for our residents and her decade and a half of experience with complex civil and criminal cases will be essential as we work to build a more affordable Garden State. As a lifelong New Jerseyan, I know Jen will never back down from a fight.”
Davenport responded: “I am so grateful to Governor-elect Sherrill for nominating me to serve as Attorney General. The Attorney General’s Office plays a critical role in advancing the Governor-elect’s mission of keeping residents safe and making the state affordable, and I share her commitment to that mission. I have spent my career in public service and alongside law enforcement, and in each role, I have worked to bring people together and solve the toughest problems facing our state. So, from taking on gun violence and human trafficking, to protecting our children, to ensuring affordability, to defending New Jerseyans from attacks out of Washington, I will build on my career in law enforcement and in public service to protect New Jerseyans every day.”
Earlier in her career, Davenport worked as a litigation associate at Latham & Watkins and Patton Boggs in Newark. She clerked for Chief Judge John Bissell at the U.S. District Court in Newark.
Davenport earned degrees from DeSales University and Seton Hall University School of Law. Before attending law school—and during her studies—she worked as an intelligence analyst at the DEA.
The office of Attorney General oversees investigations and prosecutions across a wide range of crimes in New Jersey while representing state interests in court matters. The department also enforces consumer protection laws, civil rights statutes, regulates several key industries throughout New Jersey, and supervises over 38,000 law enforcement officers statewide.
Davenport resides in Monmouth County.
