Today, Governor-elect Christopher Christie named Maplewood resident and Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow as his selection for New Jersey Attorney General.

Dow, 54, has a history of working with Christie in the U.S. Attorney's office. The high profile announcement of Dow's appointment would seem to underscore Christie's own background as a tough prosecutor. Like Christie, Dow has a reputation as a tough prosecutor. In 2009, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office under Dow posted a 77% conviction rate, the highest since 2000.

Dow was nominated on September 11, 2003, by then Governor James McGreevey to be the Essex County Prosecutor. She worked as acting prosecutor for two years as a number of state senators blocked her confirmation because, according to nj.com, McGreevey did not consult them on her nomination.

Since 2003, Dow has been busy running the busiest county prosecutor's office in the state, handling approximately 20,000 cases per year.

Previous to that position, Dow served in the U. S. Attorney's Office-District of New Jersey.  She was Counsel to the U.S. Attorney and had previously worked in the Special Prosecutions Division and the Criminal Division. Dow also served in the U. S. Attorney's Office-Southern District of New York from 1987 to 1994, where she worked in the Civil Division. Prior to that, Dow was employed by the Exxon Corporation from 1980 to 1987 in Texas, New Jersey and New York, advising clients on environmental and labor matters.

Dow earned her B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College in 1977, and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1980 (she is a native of Yeadon, PA, just outside Philadelphia).

Dow has been admitted to the Bars of New Jersey, New York and Texas; United States Supreme Court; Second and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals; United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, District of New Jersey, and Northern and Southern Districts of Texas.

As Essex County Prosecutor, Dow has a reputation for being smart and tough on how the County prosecutes gang-related crimes and gun violence. Her press office states that, in the last two years alone, approximately 300 gang members and gang associates were arrested in Essex County.

Dow also opened a state-of-the-art Crime Scene Unit in the county, opened a new homicide unit with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, and started a corruption unit focused on public employees and police misconduct. 

Meanwhile, Dow lives in Maplewood. She is the single mother of two sons.