Dick Zimmer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Jersey's12th district | |
| In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Courter |
| Succeeded by | Mike Pappas |
| Member of theNew Jersey Senate from the23rd district | |
| In office April 23, 1987 – January 3, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Walter E. Foran |
| Succeeded by | William E. Schluter |
| Member of theNew Jersey General Assembly from the23rd district | |
| In office January 12, 1982 – April 23, 1987 Serving with Karl Weidel | |
| Preceded by | Arthur R. Albohn James J. Barry Jr. |
| Succeeded by | William E. Schluter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Alan Zimmer (1944-08-16)August 16, 1944 (age 81) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Marfy Goodspeed |
| Education | Yale University (BA,LLB) |
Richard Alan Zimmer (born August 16, 1944) is an AmericanRepublican Partypolitician fromNew Jersey, who served in both houses of theNew Jersey Legislature and in theUnited States House of Representatives. He was the Republican nominee for theU.S. Senate from New Jersey in1996 and2008. In March 2010, he was appointed by GovernorChris Christie to head the New Jersey Privatization Task Force.
Zimmer was born on August 16, 1944, inNewark, New Jersey, to William and Evelyn Zimmer, the second of two children. In his early years he was raised inHillside, New Jersey. His father, a physician, died of a heart attack when he was 3 years old. After his father's death, his mother moved from Hillside toBloomfield, New Jersey, where she supported the family by working as a clerk at theSunshine Biscuits warehouse. They lived in a Bloomfield garden apartment, which Zimmer has referred to as "the New Jersey equivalent of a log cabin."[1][2]
When Zimmer was 12 years old, his mother married Howard Rubin, aKorean War veteran with three children of his own. The newly combined family moved toGlen Ridge, New Jersey, and Rubin worked at the post office there. Zimmer attendedGlen Ridge High School, where he was selected as the class speaker for his graduation ceremony. His mother, suffering from lymphoma, required paramedics to take her fromColumbia Presbyterian Hospital to the school auditorium on a stretcher to hear the address. She died several days later.[1]
Zimmer attendedYale University on a full academic scholarship and majored in political science, graduating in 1966. In the summer of 1965, he worked in theWashington, D.C., office of RepublicanU.S. SenatorClifford P. Case, after which time he became active in Republican politics.He attendedYale Law School, where he was an editor of theYale Law Journal.
After receiving hisLL.B. in 1969 he worked as an attorney inNew York andNew Jersey for several years, first forCravath, Swaine & Moore and then forJohnson & Johnson.[2]
In 1973, he was elected to theCommon Cause National Governing Board, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group and think tank with the mission to make political institutions more open and accountable. From 1974 to 1977, he served as chairman of New JerseyCommon Cause. As chairman he successfully lobbied for New Jersey's Sunshine Law, which made government meetings open to the public. He also championedcampaign finance reform, working closely withThomas Kean, then a member of theNew Jersey General Assembly. Zimmer then served as treasurer for Kean's reelection campaign.[2]
After moving toDelaware Township inHunterdon County, he was elected to the General Assembly in 1981, serving until 1987. He was the prime Assembly sponsor of New Jersey's first farmland preservation law, resulting in the permanent preservation of 1,222 farms in the state. Zimmer also sponsored the legislation creating the state'sradon detection and remediation program, which became a national model. He was chairman of the Assembly State Government Committee from 1986 to 1987.[3]
In 1987, following the death of State SenatorWalter E. Foran, Zimmer won a special election to replace him in theNew Jersey Senate. He was later elected to a full term.[2] In the Senate he served on the Revenue, Finance and Appropriations Committee.[3]
In 1990, Zimmer ran for theUnited States House of Representatives for the12th District, then encompassing parts ofHunterdon,Mercer,Somerset,Morris andWarren counties. The seat was open after six-term incumbentJim Courter decided to not seek reelection after unsuccessfully running forGovernor of New Jersey the previous year. In the Republican primary, Zimmer defeated AssemblymanRodney Frelinghuysen, the early favorite, andPhil McConkey, formerwide receiver for theNew York Giants.[4] In the general election he defeated Marguerite Chandler, a businesswoman fromSomerset County, by a margin of 66 to 34 percent.[5]
Zimmer served three terms in the House, winning reelection in 1992 and 1994. As a Congressman, Zimmer is best known[citation needed] for writingMegan's Law (U.S. Public Law 104–145), which requires notification when a convicted sex offender moves into a residential area. It was named afterMegan Kanka, a New Jersey resident who was raped and murdered by convicted sex offenderJesse Timmendequas. He also introduced"no-frills" prison legislation, requiring the elimination of luxurious prison conditions.[6]
As a member of theWays and Means Committee, he sought the elimination of wasteful spending and undue taxation. He was ranked the most fiscally conservative member of the United States Congress three times by theNational Taxpayers Union and was designated a Taxpayer Hero byCitizens Against Government Waste every year he was in office.[3]
Zimmer was also a member of theCommittee on Science, Space and Technology and theCommittee on Government Operations. As a member of theEnvironment Subcommittee, he introduced environmental risk-assessment legislation later incorporated in the 1996 amendments to theSafe Drinking Water Act.[3]
In 1995, Zimmer lined up support to run in the following year'sUnited States Senate elections, becoming the front-runner among Republicans seeking to face Democratic incumbentBill Bradley.[7] On August 16, 1995, Bradley announced that he would not seek reelection.[8] Zimmer formally announced his candidacy on February 13, 1996, having already secured the endorsement of GovernorChristine Todd Whitman and other leading Republicans.[9] In the Republican primary he won with 68 percent of the vote, defeatingPassaic CountyFreeholder Richard DuHaime (20 percent) andState SenatorDick LaRossa (12 percent).[10][11]
After a bitter and expensive campaign that focused partly on Zimmer's authorship of the federal version of Megan's Law, Zimmer lost toDemocratic CongressmanRobert Torricelli by a vote of 1,519,328 (53 percent) to 1,227,817 (43 percent).[11]
Zimmer gave up his House seat to run for the Senate, completing his third term in office on January 3, 1997. After leaving Congress, he worked at thePrinceton office of thePhiladelphia-based law firmDechert Price & Rhoads.[12] In 2001 he joined theWashington, D.C., office ofGibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he isof counsel.[13]
From 1997 to 2000 Zimmer also taught as a lecturer in Public and International Affairs atPrinceton University'sWoodrow Wilson School.
In 2000, Zimmer again ran for the 12th District House seat. In the Republican primary he defeatedMichael J. Pappas, who had held the seat from 1997 to 1999, by a margin of 62 to 38 percent. He faced the incumbent, DemocratRush D. Holt, Jr., in the general election. The results were too close to call on election night, and after a recount Zimmer ultimately lost by only 651 votes (146,162 to 145,511 votes, or 48.7 to 48.5 percent).[14]
On March 11, 2010, Zimmer was appointed by GovernorChris Christie to be the chairman of the New Jersey Privatization Task Force, charged with developing plans to privatize certain state government operations as a cost-cutting measure.[15]
On September 25, 2020, he endorsed Joe Biden for President.[16]
In February 2021, Zimmer announced he was running for theNew Jersey Senate, planning to face off with Pappas again in the primary.[17] However, he dropped out later that month.[18]
Zimmer and his wife Marfy Goodspeed are longtime residents ofDelaware Township inHunterdon County, New Jersey.[10] They have two sons:Carl Zimmer, a science writer, andBenjamin Zimmer, a linguist and lexicographer.[3]
Zimmer entered the race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey on April 11, 2008, after being drafted by New Jersey Republican leaders. Party leaders had originally supported businesswomanAnne Evans Estabrook for the Senate nomination until she withdrew in March 2008, following a mini-stroke. Many Estabrook supporters then supported businessmanAndy Unanue for the Senate nomination. Unanue received criticism in the race because of his residency inNew York City and his spending his entire three-week campaign inVail, Colorado. Several days after filing his petitions for the Senate race, Unanue dropped out of the race and his committee on vacancies designated Zimmer to enter the race under the Unanue petitions.[19]
On June 3, 2008, Zimmer won the Republican U.S. Senate nomination overState SenatorJoseph Pennacchio andRamapo College economics professorMurray Sabrin. In the general election on November 4, 2008, he faced the Democratic primary winner, incumbent U.S. Sen.Frank Lautenberg.
In polls conducted byRasmussen Reports andStrategic Vision in mid-September 2008, Zimmer trailed Lautenberg by 7 points.[20][21] He ultimately lost to Lautenberg by a margin of 56% to 42%.[22] Despite the loss, Zimmer received over 1.4 million votes, setting a record for most votes cast in New Jersey history for a Republican candidate for statewide office.[23]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Jersey's 12th congressional district 1991–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromNew Jersey (Class 2) 1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromNew Jersey (Class 2) 2008 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
