BIOGRAPHY
Democrat Robert Zimmerman, 67, is a candidate for the state’s 3rd Congressional District running on the Democratic and Working Family Parties lines ahead of the Nov. 8 election. He is the co-president of ZE Creative Communications on Bond Street in Great Neck, a public relations firm he started 33 years ago with Ron Edelson and a Democratic national committeeman.
After graduating from Brandeis University, he worked as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill for Congressmen Lester Wolff, James Scheuer and Gary Ackerman. His advocacy also led to his being nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Presidential Commission on the Arts and by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Council on the Humanities.
Zimmerman was nominated by former President Bill Clinton to serve on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Presidential Commission and by former President Barack Obama to serve on the National Concil on the Humanities. Additionally, he served on the board of the American Museum of Natural History as a government representative for 20 years.
The Great Neck resident currently sits on the boards of the Center for an Urban Future, Reach Out America and the White Lotus Foundation. An openly gay man, Zimmerman has been honored by the the LGBTQ Network of Long Island and Queens and the Long Island Progressive Coalition and has served as president of the Great Neck B;nai B’rith and the American Jewish Congress Long Island Division.
THE ISSUES
Zimmerman is an advocate of preserving women’s reproductive rights, saying he would codify Roe v. Wade and vote to defend same-sex marriage, if elected. Zimmerman has said he will push for the United States to be a global leader on women’s health and the right to a safe and legal abortion while trying to enhance family planning services and empower women economically.
Banning assault weapons, high capacity magazines and untraceable “ghost guns” are ways to enhance public safety, he said, but also end the rise in gun violence throughout the state. Enforcing universal background checks and strengthening red flag laws to prevent individuals with mental illnesses from obtaining weapons, Zimmerman said, will be another way he will combat gun violence, if elected.
Zimmerman has expressed his commitment to funding law enforcement organizations and programs and to modify the state’s bail reform laws to tackle the rising crime rates throughout Nassau County and New York. He also said he will continue to stand up against hate crimes, in any form, and work with local communities to find ways to prevent hate crimes from occurring.
Tackling climate change, he said, will require the United States to be dependent on fossil fuels in the short term while strengthening domestic energy sources. Having a strong domestic presence for renewable energy, he said, wil provide jobs to many and promote a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle.
THE DISTRICT
The state’s 3rd Congressional District includes the entire Town of North Hempstead including parts of Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Garden City, Mineola and Westbury villages.
New district maps were submitted recently by a court-appointed special master and have been viewed as more neutral compared to ones that were previously rejected by the state Appeals Court.
While the 3rd Congressional District under the new proposal does not extend as far west as the Bronx or Westchester, it does stretch to more southern parts of Nassau County such as Hicksville and Massapequa. The new lines do exclude the parts of the district that now stretch into Suffolk County, mainly Huntington and Smithtown.
