New Jersey and Essex County Democratic Chairman LeRoy Jones, Jr. and Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. today announced their endorsement of Irvington Council President Renee C. Burgess to replace Ronald L. Rice as the State Senator in Legislative District 28. Jones and DiVincenzo back Burgess to fill the vacancy created when Rice retired and to run in the November election to fill the remainder of his unexpired term.

“There is no question that Renee Burgess has the experience and passion to serve her community and I can think of no one better to become the State Senator in District 28. Every facet of her career has been geared to help people, whether it’s providing the best services for residents, a quality education for students or first-class service to her clients in the private sector,” Jones said. “This is exactly the background and experience that we need in our next State Senator and I ask District 28 to join me in support of Renee Burgess,” he added.

“Renee Burgess has a long history of public service to the residents of Irvington both through the elected positions she has held as a member of the Irvington Town Council and Board of Education and her involvement in numerous organizations and initiatives. These experiences provide her with the necessary insight and understanding of the issues affecting our residents and uniquely prepare her for service as a State Senator representing the 28^th Legislative District,” DiVincenzo said. “I wholeheartedly support Renee Burgess as our next District 28 State Senator,” he added.

After serving over three decades in the NJ State Senate, Ron Rice retired on August 31^st. Jones and DiVincenzo are supporting Burgess to serve as the interim NJ State Senator until the November 8^th General Election and to appear on the ballot in November to fill the remainder of the term. The Essex County Democratic Committee will host a special meeting on Friday, September 9^th to choose a candidate to fill the vacancy.

Burgess has served on the Irvington Town Council since 2014 and has been the Council President since 2019. Previously, she served on the Irvington Board of Education from 2003 to 2014, becoming one of the longest serving members in school board history.

She was employed for over 10 years in customer service and payroll at Merck Pharmaceutical Company, six years at CA One Services at Newark Airport and 11 years as an Asset Manager for CIT Capital. She received numerous awards recognizing her for her professionalism and leadership. Preciously, she was employed by the Township of Irvington as the purchasing clerk and payroll and purchasing specialist and by the Irvington Housing Authority as supervisor of accounts and human resource administrator.

Essex County Commissioner Wayne Richardson also issued his endorsement of Burgess.