Atkins served as president of the board of education of the Roselle Public Schools from 2007 to 2016. Elected to the Roselle borough council in 2016, he served as council president from 2018 to 2019, and was elected as mayor, serving from 2020 to 2021.[2]
New Jersey General Assembly
With Assemblyman Jamel Holley announcing in early 2021 that he would be mounting an ultimately unsuccessful primary challenge against Joseph Cryan for the seat from the 21st District in the New Jersey Senate, the Union County Democratic Party chose Atkins to run for the Assembly together with incumbent Annette Quijano.[3][4] He took office in January 2022 as one of 17 newly elected members and the only ordained clergyman in the New Jersey Legislature.[5]
^Wildstein, David. "Rev. Atkins gets nod for Holley Assembly seat", New Jersey Globe, March 3, 2021. Accessed January 4, 2024. "Union County Democrats have picked Rev. Reginald Atkins, the Roselle Democratic Municipal Chair and a former interim mayor, as their candidate for State Assembly in the 20th district. He will replace Jamel Holley (D-Roselle), who is giving up his seat to mount an uphill fight for State Senate against incumbent Joseph Cryan (D-Roselle)."
^Difilippo, Dana. "Fueled by faith, new Assemblyman vows to ‘keep God first’", New Jersey Monitor, February 2, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2024. "And a church 'flavor' is what he said he hopes to bring to the New Jersey Assembly, where he was sworn in last month as one of 17 newcomers to the state Legislature. He’s believed to be the only ordained clergy in the 120-member body, where he will represent the 20th District, a heavily Democratic area that includes four Union County towns."
