Dick Zimmer (New Jersey politician)
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| Dick Zimmer | |
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| In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997 |
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| Preceded by | James A. Courter |
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| Succeeded by | Mike Pappas |
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| Born | August 16, 1944 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Marfy Goodspeed |
| Religion | Jewish[1] |
Richard A. "Dick" Zimmer is an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and in the United States House of Representatives. He is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey in the 2008 elections, for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
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[edit] Early life and career
Zimmer was born on August 16, 1944 in Newark, New Jersey to William and Evelyn Zimmer, the second of two children. His father, a physician, died of a heart attack when he was 3 years old. After his father's death, his mother supported the family by working as a clerk at the Sunshine Biscuits warehouse in Bloomfield, New Jersey. They lived in a Bloomfield garden apartment, which Zimmer has referred to as "the New Jersey equivalent of a log cabin."[2]
When Zimmer was 12 years old, his mother married Howard Rubin, a postal worker with three children of his own. The newly combined family moved to a house in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He attended Glen Ridge High School, where he graduated at the top of his class and gave the commencement address. His mother, suffering from lymphoma, required paramedics to take her to the school auditorium on a stretcher to hear the address. She died several days later.[2]
Zimmer attended Yale University on a full academic scholarship and majored in political science, graduating in 1966. In the summer of 1965, he worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Republican U.S. Senator Clifford P. Case, after which time he became active in Republican politics. He attended Yale Law School, where he was an editor the Yale Law Journal. After receiving his LL.B. in 1969 he worked as an attorney in New York and New Jersey for several years, first for Cravath, Swaine & Moore and then for Johnson & Johnson.[2]
From 1974 to 1977, he served as chairman of New Jersey Common Cause, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group and think tank with the mission to make political institutions more open and accountable. As chairman he successfully lobbied for New Jersey's Sunshine Law, which made government meetings open to the public. He also championed campaign finance reform, working closely with Thomas H. Kean, then a member of the New Jersey General Assembly. Zimmer then served as treasurer for Kean's reelection campaign.[2]
[edit] New Jersey Legislature
After moving to Delaware Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 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’s radon 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 Senator Walter E. Foran, Zimmer won a special election to replace him in the New Jersey Senate. He was later elected to a full term.[2] In the Senate he served on the Revenue, Finance and Appropriations Committee.[3]
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
In 1990, Zimmer ran for the United States House of Representatives for the 12th District, then encompassing parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Somerset, Morris and Warren counties. The seat was open after Jim Courter R- Warren decided not seek another term after unsuccessfully running for Governor of New Jersey the previous year. In the Republican primary, Zimmer defeated Rodney Frelinghuysen, Morris, the early favorite, and Phil McConkey, Hunterdon, former wide receiver for the New York Giants.[4] In the general election he defeated Marguerite Chandler, a businesswoman from Somerset 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 writing Megan's Law (U.S. Public Law 104-145), which requires notification when a convicted sex offender moves into a residential area. It was named after Megan Kanka, a New Jersey resident who was raped and murdered by convicted sex offender Jesse Timmendequas. He also introduced "no-frills" prison legislation, requiring the elimination of luxurious prison conditions.[6]
As a member of the Ways 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 the National Taxpayers Union and was designated a Taxpayer Hero by Citizens Against Government Waste every year he was in office.[3]
Zimmer was also a member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology and the Committee on Government Operations. As a member of the Environment Subcommittee, he introduced environmental risk-assessment legislation later incorporated in the 1996 amendments to the Clean Water Act.[3]
In 1996, Zimmer gave up his House seat to run for the United States Senate. He defeated Passaic County Freeholder Richard DuHaime and State Senator Dick LaRossa in the Republican primary.[7]
After a campaign that focused heavily on Zimmer's authorship of the federal version of Megan's Law, Zimmer lost to Democratic Party candidate Robert Torricelli.
[edit] Career after Congress
After leaving Congress, Zimmer worked at the Princeton office of the Philadelphia-based law firm Dechert Price & Rhoads.[8] In 2001 he joined the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he is of counsel.[9]
From 1997 to 2000 Zimmer also taught as a Lecturer in Public and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.
In 2000, Zimmer ran against Rush D. Holt, Jr. for his former seat, the New Jersey 12th District, in the House of Representatives and lost by 651 votes.
Zimmer and his wife Marfy Goodspeed are longtime residents of Delaware Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[7] They have two sons: Carl Zimmer, a science writer, and Benjamin Zimmer, a linguist and lexicographer.[3]
[edit] 2008 U.S. Senate Campaign
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 businesswoman Anne Evans Estabrook for the Senate nomination until she withdrew in March 2008, following a mini-stroke. Many Estabrook supporters then supported businessman Andy Unanue for the Senate nomination. Unanue received criticism in the race because of his residency in New York City and his spending his entire three week campaign in Vail, 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.[10]
On June 3, 2008, Zimmer won the Republican U.S. Senate nomination over State Senator Joseph Pennacchio and Ramapo College economics professor Murray Sabrin. In the general election on November 4, 2008 he will face the Democratic primary winner, incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
[edit] References
- ^ New Jersey Senate Race 1996, Time (magazine), November 4, 1996
- ^ a b c d e Pulley, Brett. "Zimmer Has Set Aside Calm for His Political Passions", The New York Times, June 5, 1996. Accessed April 13, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e "Resume of Special Counsel Richard Zimmer", Hunterdon County Board of Chosen Freeholders, March 8, 2005. Accessed March 10, 2008.
- ^ "The 1990 Elections", The New York Times, June 7, 1990. Accessed April 13, 2008.
- ^ " The 1990 Elections", The New York Times, November 7, 1990. Accessed April 13, 2008.
- ^ "Cutting Down on Amenities To Achieve No-Frills Jails", The New York Times, July 10, 1995. Accessed April 13, 2008.
- ^ a b Pulley, Brett. "U.S. Senate Race in New Jersey Narrows to Zimmer and Torricelli", The New York Times, June 5, 1996. Accessed March 10, 2008.
- ^ "Zimmer Joins a Law Firm", The New York Times, February 26, 1997. Accessed April 13, 2008.
- ^ Burton, Cynthia. "Zimmer in GOP race for Senate", Philadelphia Inquirer, 2008-04-18. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
- ^ "Former Congressman Dick Zimmer to run for U.S. Senate". The Star-Ledger, April 11, 2008. Accessed April 11, 2008.
[edit] External links
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biographical information for Dick Zimmer from The Political Graveyard
- Senate Campaign Web Page
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Courter |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 12th congressional district 1991–1997 |
Succeeded by Michael J. Pappas |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Christine Todd Whitman |
Republican Nominee for the U.S. Senate (Class 2) from New Jersey 1996 |
Succeeded by Doug Forrester |
| Preceded by Doug Forrester |
Republican Nominee for the U.S. Senate (Class 2) from New Jersey 2008 |
Succeeded by election to take place in 2014 |
