Dick Zimmer | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 12th district |
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In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997 |
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Preceded by | James A. Courter |
Succeeded by | Mike Pappas |
Member of the New Jersey Senate from the 23rd district |
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In office April 23, 1987 – January 3, 1991 |
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Preceded by | Walter E. Foran |
Succeeded by | William E. Schluter |
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 23rd district |
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In office January 12, 1982 – April 23, 1987 |
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Preceded by | James J. Barry, Jr. |
Succeeded by | William E. Schluter |
Personal details | |
Born |
Richard Alan Zimmer August 16, 1944 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Marfy Goodspeed |
Richard Alan "Dick" Zimmer (born August 16, 1944) 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 was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey in 1996 and 2008. In March 2010, he was appointed by Governor Chris Christie to head the New Jersey Privatization Task Force.
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."
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.