Joann Ginal is an American politician who serves in the Colorado Senate from the 14th district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party. Before her tenure in the state senate she served in the Colorado House of Representatives from the 52nd district from 2013 to 2019.

Ginal was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, and also lived in Florida and Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire, Iowa State University, and Colorado State University during which she moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2012, she was elected to the state house to succeed John Kefalas, who had run for a seat in the state senate, and served until she was selected to replace Kefalas in the state senate in 2018.

Joann Ginal was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. She lived in Florida and Massachusetts before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado, to continue her college education in 1990. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science in biology, Iowa State University with a Master of Science in zoology and parasitology, and Colorado State University with a PhD in reproductive endocrinology. Ginal received a honored certification from the Harvard Kennedy School.^[1][2] She planned to marry her partner after the legalization of same-sex civil unions in Colorado.^[3][4]

In 2015, Ginal and Representative Lois Court introduced legislation to allow for terminally ill people with less than six months left to live to undergo euthanasia. She stated that she created the legislation because of Brittany Maynard, a brain cancer patient, who moved from California to Oregon to end her life.^[23][24] Their legislation failed in the state house, but Colorado Proposition 106, which allowed for assisted suicide, was passed with 64.9% of the popular vote in 2016.^[25][26]

Ginal introduced legislation in 2016, to make rolling coal a Class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense and the legislation was signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper on June 5, 2017.^[27][28] Ginal was among thirty-seven legislators who endorsed a letter in 2018, calling for Planned Parenthood to allow for their workers to form a union.^[29] She sponsored legislation to allow people in Colorado to import prescription drugs from Canada.^[30] In 2019, she and Representative Alex Valdez were recognized as the best legislators by the Colorado Voters for Animals, an animal rights organization.^[31]

In 2023, she was the only member of her caucus to vote against a major land use reform bill in the Colorado Senate that would have upzoned neighborhoods and enabled more housing construction in Colorado.^[32]