Dick Zimmer (New Jersey politician)

Infobox Congressman
name= Dick Zimmer


width=175px
state= New Jersey
district=12th
party= Republican
term= January 3 1991 – January 3 1997
preceded= James A. Courter
succeeded= Mike Pappas
date of birth= birth date and age|1944|08|16
place of birth= Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
date of death=
place of death=
spouse=Marfy Goodspeed
religion=Jewish [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985475,00.html New Jersey Senate Race 1996] , "Time (magazine)", November 4, 1996]
current occupation=

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.

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. In his early years he was raised in Hillside, 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 to Bloomfield, New Jersey, where she supported the family by working as a clerk at the Sunshine Biscuits warehouse. They lived in a Bloomfield garden apartment, which Zimmer has referred to as "the New Jersey equivalent of a log cabin."Wald, David. "Campaign images cloak candidates' real identity", "The Star-Ledger", October 21, 1996.] Pulley, Brett. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E5DD1339F933A05753C1A960958260 "Zimmer Has Set Aside Calm for His Political Passions"] , "The New York Times", June 5, 1996. Accessed April 13, 2008.]

When Zimmer was 12 years old, his mother married Howard Rubin, a Korean War veteran with three children of his own. The newly combined family moved to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and Rubin worked at the post office there. Zimmer attended Glen 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 from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to the school auditorium on a stretcher to hear the address. She died several days later.

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.

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.

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. [http://www.zimmerforsenate.com/about Biography] , [http://www.zimmerforsenate.com Zimmer for Senate] . Accessed June 23, 2008.]

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. In the Senate he served on the Revenue, Finance and Appropriations Committee.

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 decided not seek another term after unsuccessfully running for Governor of New Jersey the previous year. In the Republican primary, Zimmer defeated Rodney Frelinghuysen, the early favorite, and Phil McConkey, former wide receiver for the New York Giants. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D8113CF934A35755C0A966958260 "The 1990 Elections"] , "The New York Times", June 7, 1990. Accessed April 13, 2008.] In the general election he defeated Marguerite Chandler, a businesswoman from Somerset County, by a margin of 66 to 34 percent. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DB1730F934A35752C1A966958260 " The 1990 Elections"] , "The New York Times", November 7, 1990. Accessed April 13, 2008.]

Zimmer served three terms in the House, winning reelection in 1992 and 1994. As a Congressman, Zimmer is best knownFact|date=June 2008 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. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5D91E38F933A25754C0A963958260 "Cutting Down on Amenities To Achieve No-Frills Jails] ", "The New York Times", July 10, 1995. Accessed April 13, 2008.]

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.

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.

1996 U.S. Senate Campaign

In 1995, Zimmer lined up support to run in the following year's United States Senate elections, becoming the front-runner among Republicans seeking to face Democratic incumbent Bill Bradley. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DE153AF93BA25755C0A963958260 "Looking for Strength To Beat a Legend"] , "The New York Times", June 18, 1995. Accessed September 6, 2008.] On August 16, 1995, Bradley announced that he would not seek reelection. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2DC163AF934A2575BC0A963958260 "Bradley Says He Won't Seek 4th Term"] , "The New York Times", August 17, 1995. Accessed September 6, 2008.] Zimmer formally announced his candidacy on February 13, 1996, having already secured the endorsement of Governor Christine Todd Whitman and other leading Republicans. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E1DC1239F937A25751C0A960958260 "Congressman Announces Plans to Seek Bradley Seat"] , "The New York Times", February 14, 1995. Accessed September 6, 2008.] In the Republican primary he won with 68 percent of the vote, defeating Passaic County Freeholder Richard DuHaime (20 percent) and State Senator Dick LaRossa (12 percent).Pulley, Brett. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2D81F39F936A35755C0A960958260&st=cse&sq=DuHaime+larossa+zimmer&scp=1 "U.S. Senate Race in New Jersey Narrows to Zimmer and Torricelli"] , "The New York Times", June 5, 1996. Accessed March 10, 2008.] [http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/senate.htm#NEWJERSEY "1996 U.S. Senate Results"] , Federal Election Commission. Accessed September 6, 2008.]

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 by a vote of 1,519,328 (53 percent) to 1,227,817 (43 percent).

Career after Congress

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 the Princeton office of the Philadelphia-based law firm Dechert Price & Rhoads. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E6D91731F935A15751C0A961958260 "Zimmer Joins a Law Firm"] , "The New York Times", February 26, 1997. Accessed April 13, 2008.] In 2001 he joined the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he is of counsel. [cite news |first=Cynthia |last=Burton |title=Zimmer in GOP race for Senate |url=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080418_Ex-N_J__lawmaker_running_for_Senate.html |work= |publisher=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=2008-04-18 |accessdate=2008-04-18 ]

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 again ran for the 12th District House seat. In the Republican primary he defeated Michael J. Pappas, who had held the seat from 1997 to 1999, by a margin of 62 to 38 percent. He faced the incumbent, Democrat Rush D. Holt, Jr., in the general election. As with that year's presidential 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 48.73 to 48.51 percent). [ [http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/njh.htm "2000 U.S. House Results, New Jersey"] , Federal Election Commission. Accessed September 6, 2008.]

Zimmer and his wife Marfy Goodspeed are longtime residents of Delaware Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. They have two sons: Carl Zimmer, a science writer, and Benjamin Zimmer, a linguist and lexicographer.

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. [ [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/former_congressman_dick_zimmer.html "Former Congressman Dick Zimmer to run for U.S. Senate"] . "The Star-Ledger", April 11, 2008. Accessed April 11, 2008.]

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.

As of the latest polls conducted by Rasmussen Reports on September 16, 2008 and Strategic Vision on September 14-16, 2008, Zimmer trails Lautenberg by 7 points. [ [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_senate_elections/new_jersey/election_2008_new_jersey_senate Election 2008: New Jersey Senate] , Rasmussen Reports. Accessed September 19, 2008.] [ [http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/newjersey_poll_091908.htm Poll Results - NJ] , Strategic Vision. Accessed September 19, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/zielinziger-zimmerer.html#R9M0JIHFF Biographical information for Dick Zimmer] from The Political Graveyard
* [http://www.zimmerforsenate.com/ Senate Campaign Web Page]