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.
[3] 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.
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.
Bagger is also an adjunct faculty member of the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University,[13] and a Director of Tonix Pharmaceuticals,[14] the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society,[15] and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.