Richard Bagger

{{Short description|American politician (born 1960)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Rich Bagger |state_senate = New Jersey |district = 21st |term_start = January 8, 2002 |term_end = January 15, 2003 |predecessor = Kevin J. O'Toole |successor = Thomas Kean Jr. |state_assembly1 = New Jersey |district1 = 22nd |term_start1 = January 14, 1992 |term_end1 = January 8, 2002 |predecessor1 = Maureen Ogden |successor1 = Jerry Green<br>Linda Stender |birth_name = Richard Hartvig Bagger |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|3|27}} |birth_place = Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = Republican |education = Princeton University (BA)<br>{{nowrap|Rutgers University, Newark (JD)}} }} '''Richard Hartvig 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.<ref name=PolitickerNJ>[http://www.politickernj.com/editor/35238/bagger-will-be-christies-chief-staff Bagger Will Be Christie's Chief of Staff], Politicker NJ. Accessed December 3, 2009.</ref> 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.

==Life and career== Bagger was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. Raised in nearby Westfield, Bagger attended Westfield High School.<ref>Lazarus, David. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/westfield/bagger-focuses-speech-on-govs-fiscal-plan "Bagger Focuses Speech on Gov's Fiscal Plan; Former mayor and senator discusses role as governor's chief of staff."], Westfield, NJ Patch, April 15, 2011. Accessed December 5, 2022. "Bagger, who attended Wilson Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School, Westfield High School and Princeton University, got his political start as a member of the Westfield Planning Board."</ref> He received an A.B. in 1982 from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law.<ref name=NJN/>

Bagger served as a Planning Board member, Councilman, and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name=NJN/> 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.<ref name=NJN/> After leaving the Senate, he worked as Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy for Pfizer.<ref name=NJN>[http://www.njn.net/about/foundation/bagger.html Richard H. Bagger - NJN Foundation Board of Trustees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201024942/http://www.njn.net/about/foundation/bagger.html |date=2006-12-01 }}, accessed April 13, 2007.</ref> He also was a member of the NJN Foundation Board of Trustees as well as Board Chair of the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey and the National Pharmaceutical Council.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Celgene EVP Richard Bagger Elected National Pharmaceutical Council Board Chair {{!}} National Pharmaceutical Council|url=https://www.npcnow.org/newsroom/press-releases/celgene-evp-richard-bagger-elected-national-pharmaceutical-council-board|access-date=2020-12-30|website=www.npcnow.org}}</ref> In December 2009, then-Governor-elect Chris Christie appointed Bagger as his chief of staff.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Desk |first=Star-Ledger Continuous News |date=2009-12-03 |title=N.J. Gov.-elect Chris Christie selects Richard Bagger as chief of staff |url=https://www.nj.com/news/2009/12/gov-elect_chris_christie_selec.html |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=nj |language=en}}</ref> He served in that role until January 2012.

Bagger served 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<ref>{{cite web|title=Board of Commissioners|url=http://www.panynj.gov/corporate-information/board-commissioners.html}}</ref> and remained on the Board until June 2021. He was Chair of the Gateway Program Development Corporation in 2017, served on the Board of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum while a Port Authority Commissioner, and joined the Board of the Regional Plan Association in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RPA Welcomes Seven New Members to Board of Directors |url=https://rpa.org/latest/lab/board-of-directors-october-2022 |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=RPA |language=en-US}}</ref>

Bagger was Executive Director of the 2016 transition planning team of Donald Trump, after Chris Christie endorsed Trump and was named Chair of the planning group.<ref name="christiedropped">{{citation|author=David Smith|title=Chris Christie dropped as head of Trump's White House transition team|date=11 November 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/11/chris-christie-dropped-trump-transition-team|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="pencetotakeover">{{citation|author=Michael D. Shear, Michael S. Schmidt, and Maggie Habermannov|title=Vice President-Elect Pence to Take Over Trump Transition Effort|date=11 November 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/politics/trump-cabinet.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/26/politics/chris-christie-endorses-donald-trump/index.html|title=Chris Christie endorses Donald Trump|author=Jeremy Diamond, Jake Tapper, Phil Mattingly and Stephen Collinson, CNN|date=February 26, 2016|work=CNN|access-date=February 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Burns|first1=Alexander|last2=Haberman|first2=Maggie|date=2016-06-30|title=Chris Christie Becomes Powerful Figure in Donald Trump Campaign|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/us/politics/chris-christie-donald-trump.html|access-date=2021-08-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After Christie was dropped by Trump as leader of the transition team in favor of Mike Pence, Bagger left the transition team on the same day.<ref name="christiedropped" /><ref name="pencetotakeover" /> In May 2017, Bagger was appointed to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships<ref>{{Cite web|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-key-additions-administration-16/|access-date=2020-12-30|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|language=en-US}}</ref> and served there until 2021.

Bagger is also an adjunct faculty member of the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Eagleton Faculty, Staff and Visiting Associates|url=https://live-ru-eip.pantheonsite.io/eagleton-faculty-staff-and-visiting-associates/|access-date=2020-12-30|website=Eagleton Institute of Politics|language=en-US}}</ref> and a Director of Tonix Pharmaceuticals,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tonix Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Richard H. Bagger to Board of Directors|url=https://www.tonixpharma.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1204/tonix-pharmaceuticals-announces-appointment-of-richard-h|access-date=2021-08-15|website=www.tonixpharma.com|language=en}}</ref> the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rich Bagger {{!}} Leukemia and Lymphoma Society |url=https://www.lls.org/person/rich-bagger |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.lls.org}}</ref> and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-19|title=Richard Bagger|url=https://www.uschamber.com/richard-bagger|access-date=2021-08-15|website=U.S. Chamber of Commerce|language=en}}</ref>

== Election history == {| class="wikitable" |+2001 New Jersey general election ! colspan="2" |Party !Candidate !Votes !% |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Richard H. Bagger''' |'''41,539''' |'''58.6''' |- | |Democratic |Ellen Steinberg |29,342 |41.4 |- ! colspan="3" |Total votes |'''70,881''' |'''100.0''' |} {| class="wikitable" |+New Jersey general election, 1999 ! colspan="2" |Party !Candidate !Votes !% !±% |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Richard H. Bagger''' |'''24,405''' |'''50.4''' | '''17.9''' |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Alan M. Augustine''' |'''24,004''' |'''49.6''' | '''17.8''' |- ! colspan="3" |Total votes |'''48,409''' |'''100.0''' | |} {| class="wikitable" |+New Jersey general election, 1997 ! colspan="2" |Party !Candidate !Votes !% !±% |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Richard H. Bagger''' |'''43,421''' |'''32.5''' | '''3.3''' |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Alan M. Augustine''' |'''42,479''' |'''31.8''' | '''3.3''' |- | |Democratic |Andrew Baron |22,368 |16.7 |2.5 |- | |Democratic |Norman Albert |22,110 |16.5 |2.6 |- | |Conservative |Douglas Lawless |1,688 |1.3 |0.8 |- | |Conservative |Norman A. Ross |1,635 |1.2 |0.8 |- ! colspan="3" |Total votes |'''133,701''' |'''100.0''' | |} {| class="wikitable" |+New Jersey general election, 1995 ! colspan="2" |Party !Candidate !Votes !% !±% |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Richard H. Bagger''' |'''24,024''' |'''29.2''' | '''3.8''' |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Alan M. Augustine''' |'''23,520''' |'''28.5''' | '''3.3''' |- | |Democratic |John A. Salerno |15,782 |19.2 |0.3 |- | |Democratic |Geri Samuel |15,737 |19.1 |2.8 |- | |Conservative |Robert Hudak |1,700 |2.1 |''N/A'' |- | |Conservative |Fred J. Grill |1,627 |2.0 |''N/A'' |- ! colspan="3" |Total votes |'''82,390''' |'''100.0''' | |} {| class="wikitable" |+New Jersey general election, 1993 ! colspan="2" |Party !Candidate !Votes !% !±% |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Richard H. Bagger''' |'''47,064''' |'''33.0''' | '''4.5''' |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Alan M. Augustine''' |'''45,357''' |'''31.8''' | '''6.1''' |- | |Democratic |Susan H. Pepper |26,972 |18.9 |6.4 |- | |Democratic |Carlton W. Hansen, Jr. |23,252 |16.3 |4.1 |- ! colspan="3" |Total votes |'''142,645''' |'''100.0''' | |} {| class="wikitable" |+1991 New Jersey general election ! colspan="2" |Party !Candidate !Votes !% |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Bob Franks''' |'''37,087''' |'''37.9''' |- | |'''Republican''' |'''Richard H. Bagger''' |'''36,704''' |'''37.5''' |- | |Democratic |Edward Kahn |12,241 |12.5 |- | |Democratic |Richard Kress |11,900 |12.2 |- ! colspan="3" |Total votes |'''97,932''' |'''100.0''' |} {| class="wikitable" |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Raymond Stone}} {{s-ttl|title=Mayor of Westfield|years=1991–1992}} {{s-aft|after=Garland Boothe}} |- {{s-par|us-nj-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Maureen Ogden}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the New Jersey General Assembly<br>from the 22nd district|years=1992–2002|alongside=Bob Franks, Alan Augustine, Tom Kean}} {{s-aft|after=Linda Stender}} |- {{s-par|us-nj-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Kevin O'Toole}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the New Jersey Senate<br>from the 21st district|years=2002–2003}} {{s-aft|after=Tom Kean}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagger, Rich}} Category:1960 births Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature Category:20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey Category:21st-century American lawyers Category:21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature Category:Chiefs of staff to the governor of New Jersey Category:Living people Category:Mayors of places in New Jersey Category:Lawyers from Union County, New Jersey Category:Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Category:Republican Party New Jersey state senators Category:Politicians from Plainfield, New Jersey Category:Politicians from Westfield, New Jersey Category:Rutgers School of Law–Newark alumni Category:Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni Category:Westfield High School (New Jersey) alumni