A Tiger in Trenton: Bagger ’82

As overseer of the governor’s senior staff, Bagger orchestrates the activities of Christie’s office and is in charge of policy development and implementation.

“On a day-to-day basis, I’m very much involved in working with the legislature, working with communications and, very importantly, working with members of the cabinet and cabinet agencies,” Bagger explained. “It’s a very operational job.”

Though each day begins with specific goals and objectives, Bagger’s schedule never goes exactly according to plan.

“Every day, without exception, something unexpected happens that you need to deal with,” Bagger said. “I literally spend time each day doing things that I didn’t expect to spend time on.”

This need to work on the fly and react to rapidly changing circumstances keeps the job exciting and engaging, he said.

“I’ve had a series of different jobs in my career, and this is the most intense minute-to-minute,” said Bagger, adding that it is “not intellectually harder than a corporate job, not physically demanding, but minute-for-minute it’s the fastest pace, which is part of what makes it fun, too.”

Bagger’s passion for politics was well-established by his college days. In addition to working part-time in Trenton, he headed College Republicans and was in the Wilson School, whose policy task forces, he said, prepared him well for his current job.

“There’s a striking resemblance between them and what I’m doing now,” Bagger said, referring to the task forces.

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“If you want to tackle a problem, a team approach and open discussion and debate of the issues is needed.”

After graduating from Princeton, Bagger quickly won a race for local office in Westfield, N.J., as a 23-year-old student at Rutgers Law School.

By age 30, Bagger was mayor of the town, and a year later, in 1991, he was elected to the State Assembly. He served in the assembly for 10 years before moving to New Jersey’s upper chamber.

Bagger’s classmates at Princeton said his passion for politics was obvious.

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“Rich already had a record of public service when we were together at school,” said Greg Silvestri ’82, a close college friend. “Politics was always something he enjoyed speaking about. I don’t think anyone is surprised” that he ended up in politics, he added.

Another college friend, Dave Kuhl ’82, recalled that friends would call him “Senator Bagger” for this very reason. Beyond his drive, Kuhl also recognized Bagger as someone who was easy to work with, noting that “he was very determined and tough, and very practical and very fair.”

In 2003, Bagger took a break from politics, resigning his state Senate seat to work in the private sector. His focus remained on government, however, as he became senior vice president of government relations for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

Yet when the opportunity arose to enter public life again and work alongside Christie, he jumped at it. “It was sort of an unfulfilled challenge I wanted to take on,” Bagger said.

Bagger met Christie in the 1990s when the current governor was a Morris County freeholder. Though the two stayed in touch and Bagger said he considers Christie a friend, he said their working relationship is clear.

“First off, he’s my boss,” Bagger said. “I work for him, and it is a position in which I have one objective, and that is his success and the successful development and implementation of his policy agenda.”

Silvestri said it is easy to see why Bagger is a suitable candidate for his position, noting that he “could always see the complexity of the issue and think his way through it.”

“He was always very good at bringing people together,” Silvestri added.

Bagger has largely focused on Christie’s top priority: addressing the state’s $2.2 billion budget deficit. In response to the deficit, the governor has cut funding for programs across the board, including a controversial $475 million cut in state aid to schools.

“We made a very fast and strong start; we came in and had no alternative but to begin governing immediately,” Bagger said. “He has put in front of the state issues that really matter that have been swept under the rug for far too long.”

Bagger said a perk of his job is interacting with his alma mater more regularly, noting that “the governor is very interested in higher education ... I get to work with Princeton on community and state issues. I get to participate in events at the Wilson School. My day-to-day contact with Princeton has increased considerably, which is a nice additional plus.”