Following the
2021 reapportionment, all of the municipalities in
Morris County were removed from the district, while the
Passaic County municipality of
Clifton was shifted from its longtime home in the
34th district.[2] In the June 2023 Democratic primary, the first held under the 2021 reapportionment, incumbent Senator
Richard Codey defeated incumbent 34th district Senator
Nia Gill, though Codey announced in August that he would retire at the end of the term. McKeon was selected to replace Codey on the November ballot for Senate[3] while
Mila Jasey retired after her hometown was moved out of the district, with newcomers
Rosy Bagolie and Collazos-Gill ultimately chosen to be the two Democratic Assembly candidates.[4]
Bagolie and Collazos-Gill defeated Republicans Irene DeVita and Michael G. Mecca Jr. in the
2023 New Jersey General Assembly election[5][6] Collazos-Gill was one of 27 members elected for the first time in 2023 to serve in the General Assembly, more than one-third of the seats.[7]
^Election profile: 27th Legislative District, NJ Spotlight News. Accessed January 9, 2024. "Hometown: Montclair. I was born in Colombia, immigrated to the United States when I was 14 years old. Graduated from Long Branch High School and then went on to Rutgers University in Newark, where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree with a double major in sociology and Latin American literature. My first job out of college was with NJN (NJ Public Television Station) on a show called Images/Imagenes. I worked for U.S. Rep. Steven Rothman for seven years in the district office, where I served in various roles, including as the director of constituent services. in 2016-17 I served as the co-director of the Latino Outreach Program for gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy."
^Wildstein, David.
"McKeon will get Codey’s Senate seat, Brendan Gill will run for Assembly", New Jersey Globe, August 17, 2023. Accessed January 24, 2024. "Democrats have settled on Assemblyman John McKeon (D-West Orange) to replace Richard J. Codey in the State Senate, with Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) set to run for the State Assembly, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.... The deal averts a floor fight between McKeon and Gill for the Senate seat of Richard J. Codey, a former governor who announced on Monday that he would retire from the Senate at the end of his current term after 50 years in the New Jersey Legislature."
^"Election 2023: Legislative District 27", NJ Spotlight News, May 5, 2023. Accessed January 24, 2024. "Assemblyman John McKeon, a Democrat, an attorney and former mayor of West Orange, was going to defend his seat but now is running instead for the Senate. He is facing Michael D. Byrne of Upper Montclair. Both Democratic Assembly candidates are newcomers, as the other Assembly member, Mila Jasey chose to retire after her hometown was moved into the neighboring 28th District. Rosy Bagolie, a Livingston councilwoman and superintendent of the East Newark School District, is running with Alixon Collazos-Gill, who co-founded a Montclair public affairs firm with her husband, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill."
^Wildstein, David.
"37 new lawmakers take office at noon", New Jersey Globe, January 9, 2024. Accessed January 9, 2024. "The 221st New Jersey Legislature begins today, with 37 new lawmakers – nearly one-third of the legislature – being sworn in at noon. That number includes ten new Senators and 27 new members of the General Assembly."