Name Richard Bagger Role Politician | Resigned 2003 | |
Education Rutgers School of Law–Newark, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs | ||
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Richard H. "Rich" Bagger (born March 27, 1960) is an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, and former State Senator who later served as chief of staff to Governor Chris Christie. He left the Christie administration in early 2012, and is now an Executive Vice President with Celgene. He is a resident of Westfield, New Jersey.
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Life and career
Bagger was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. He received an A.B. in 1982 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law–Newark.
Bagger served as a Planning Board member, Councilman, and Mayor in Westfield during the 1980s and 1990s. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly from the 22nd Legislative District in 1991, succeeding Chuck Hardwick, his longtime mentor. During his time as an assemblyman, he served as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and was elected to be Majority Conference Leader. In 2000, he declined a race to succeed Bob Franks in Congress. In 2001, he was elected to the New Jersey Senate for the 21st Legislative District. He resigned as a State Senator in 2003 in order to pursue private business interests and was succeeded by Thomas Kean Jr. Bagger remained a political leader in Union County after leaving the legislature.
Earlier in his career, Bagger was an Assistant General Counsel to Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey and practiced law with the firm of McCarter and English. After leaving the Senate, he worked as Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy for Pfizer. He also was a member of the NJN Foundation Board of Trustees. In December 2009, then-Governor-elect Chris Christie appointed Bagger as his chief of staff.
Bagger currently serves on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners having been confirmed by the New Jersey State Senate on June 28, 2012.
Bagger briefly joined the transition planning team of Donald Trump, after his friend and close associate Chris Christie endorsed him and was named head of the planning group. After calls for Christie's impeachment as Governor and felony convictions in U.S. federal court for high-ranking members of his staff in the Bridgegate scandal, Christie was dropped by Trump as leader of the transition team, in favor of Mike Pence. On the same day, Bagger was removed by Trump from the transition team.