Michael Pagan was born in New York City on July 29, 1976, and was raised in Washington Heights until he was 10. In 1986, his family moved to Teaneck, New Jersey. Pagan graduated from Teaneck High School in 1994 and attended Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, before transferring to Temple University in Philadelphia and graduating with a B.A. in Journalism in 1998.
Pagan has worked as a reporter for the North Jersey Herald News, as a grants writer for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and as a press secretary for three Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly, a U.S. Congressman, and two U.S. Senators.
Pagan was the first Latino elected to the Teaneck Council in 2020 and was the first Latino elected Mayor in 2023. He is also a Senior Community Relations Specialist for the Bergen County Department of Planning and Engineering.
