Essex County executive endorses Collazos-Gill, Bagolie

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. this week endorsed a pair of 27th district Assembly incumbents seeking to stave off a primary challenge. 

DiVincenzo endorsed Assemblywomen Rosy Bagolie (D-Livingston) and Alixon Collazos-Gill (D-Montclair), two first-term legislators seeking another two years in Trenton. Five Essex County towns compose most of the district, though it also includes the Passaic County city of Clifton.

“Rosy and Alixon have demonstrated that they deserve another term representing us in Trenton,” DiVincenzo said in a release. “They are attentive to their constituents in the 27th District and have worked cooperatively with me and my administration to help make Essex County a vibrant and thriving place to live, work and recreate.”

Bagolie and Collazos-Gill face a primary challenger in Rohit Dave, the head of corporate development at Block. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who is running an anti-establishment campaign for governor and supporting a slate of Assembly candidates across the state, is backing Dave’s candidacy.

Bagolie, a school administrator at the East Newark school district, won the Democratic nomination for the Assembly seat in a special convention in 2023 and won a noncompetitive general election in the heavily Democratic district alongside Collazos-Gill, a former government relations consultant and congressional aide.

“We need strong representation in Trenton, and Rosy and Alixon are the right women to do it,” DiVincenzo said. “I encourage everyone to join me in supporting Rosy Bagolie and Alixon Collazos-Gill.”

In the 2023 state Senate election, Essex County voters accounted for about three-quarters of the 27th district’s vote.