Heather Simmons (politician)

Heather Simmons
Heather Simmons
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly; from the 3rd district
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 9, 2024 Serving with David Bailey
Preceded by	Beth Sawyer; Bethanne McCarthy Patrick;
Personal details
Born	1968 or 1969 (age 55–56)
Political party	Democratic
Education	Saint Joseph's University

Heather Simmons (born 1968 or 1969^[1]) is an American public relations professional and Democratic Party politician serving as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 3rd legislative district, since taking office on January 9, 2024.

Biography

A resident of Glassboro, New Jersey, Simmons serves is a public relations professional who serves as an assistant vice president at Rowan University.^[1] She graduated in 1991 from Saint Joseph's University.^[2]

Elective office

Together with running mate Robert Zimmerman, she narrowly lost election in 2010 to the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, despite the Democratic ticket outspending the Republicans by a 5–1 margin,^[3] but was chosen unanimously by the Gloucester County Democratic Committee and appointed to fill the one-year balance of the seat that had been held by Stephen Sweeney until he stepped down from office.^[4] She won full three-year teams of office as a freeholder (since renamed as commissioner) in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020.^[1]

In the 2023 New Jersey General Assembly election, Simmons and her Democratic running mate Dave Bailey, defeated Republican incumbent Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and her running mate Thomas J. Tedesco.^[5]^[6]

District 3

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.^[7] Representatives from the 3rd District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[8]

Senator John Burzichelli (D)
Assemblywoman David Bailey (D)
Assemblywoman Heather Simmons (D)

Electoral history

3rd Legislative District General Election, 2023^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Heather Simmons	30,861	25.6
	Democratic	Dave Bailey Jr.	30,737	25.5
	Republican	Bethanne McCarthy Patrick (incumbent)	29,522	24.5
	Republican	Tom Tedesco	29,480	24.4
Total votes			120,600	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wildstein, David. "Gloucester county commissioner will run for Assembly in 3rd district on Burzichelli’s ticket", New Jersey Globe, March 20, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023. "Gloucester County Commissioner Heather Simmons (D-Glassboro) will run for State Assembly in the 3rd district, where Democrats want to reclaim seats they unexpectedly lost two years ago.... The 54-year-old Simmons is the assistant vice president of Strategic Projects at Rowan University and is one of two Rowan officials to run for the Assembly this year..... Democrats had picked Simmons to run for freeholder in 2010 when incumbents Joseph Brigandi and Jean DuBois declined to seek re-election but lost the general election by 226 votes. Despite her defeat, Simmons still got to serve as a freeholder. About to begin his second year as Senate President, Sweeney resigned from the freeholder board, and Democrats picked Simmons as his replacement. She won a full three-year term in 2011 by 3,779 votes and was re-elected in 2014, 2017, and 2020."
^ "Super Women", South Jersey magazine, October 2011. Accessed December 23, 2023. "Heather Simmons:... The Democrat and 1991 valedictorian of St. Joseph’s University was formerly an adjunct instructor at Gloucester County College, teaching journalism, publishing and feature writing."
^ Carroll, Timothy. "Sweeney target of GOP revival in Gloucester", The Observer, November 3, 2010. Accessed December 23, 2023. "The Democrats outspent Republicans nearly 5-to-1 in the race, according to Republican candidate Larry Wallace, and had a better GOTV ground game, and had a registration advantage thrice that of the GOP. And yet Wallace (38,975) and Vince Nestore (38,177) defeated Democrats Heather Simmons (37,951) and Robert Zimmerman (37,895), according to unofficial reports."
^ Simmons, Heather. "Simmons: I'll serve to achieve top goals", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 24, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2023. "This past Wednesday evening (Jan. 19) I had the honor of being sworn in as an appointed member of the Gloucester County freeholder board and was granted the privilege of serving out the one-year unexpired board term Stephen M. Sweeney, the former freeholder director, who resigned."
^ Connolly, John. "NJ election results 2023: State Senate, Assembly seats decided", The Record, November 9, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.
^ Official List Candidates for General Assembly for General Election November 7, 2023, New Jersey Department of State, December 6, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.
^ New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
^ Legislative Roster for District 3, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 21, 2024.
^ "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

[NJGlobe-1] Wildstein, David. "Gloucester county commissioner will run for Assembly in 3rd district on Burzichelli’s ticket", New Jersey Globe, March 20, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023. "Gloucester County Commissioner Heather Simmons (D-Glassboro) will run for State Assembly in the 3rd district, where Democrats want to reclaim seats they unexpectedly lost two years ago.... The 54-year-old Simmons is the assistant vice president of Strategic Projects at Rowan University and is one of two Rowan officials to run for the Assembly this year..... Democrats had picked Simmons to run for freeholder in 2010 when incumbents Joseph Brigandi and Jean DuBois declined to seek re-election but lost the general election by 226 votes. Despite her defeat, Simmons still got to serve as a freeholder. About to begin his second year as Senate President, Sweeney resigned from the freeholder board, and Democrats picked Simmons as his replacement. She won a full three-year term in 2011 by 3,779 votes and was re-elected in 2014, 2017, and 2020."

[2] "Super Women", South Jersey magazine, October 2011. Accessed December 23, 2023. "Heather Simmons:... The Democrat and 1991 valedictorian of St. Joseph’s University was formerly an adjunct instructor at Gloucester County College, teaching journalism, publishing and feature writing."

[3] Carroll, Timothy. "Sweeney target of GOP revival in Gloucester", The Observer, November 3, 2010. Accessed December 23, 2023. "The Democrats outspent Republicans nearly 5-to-1 in the race, according to Republican candidate Larry Wallace, and had a better GOTV ground game, and had a registration advantage thrice that of the GOP. And yet Wallace (38,975) and Vince Nestore (38,177) defeated Democrats Heather Simmons (37,951) and Robert Zimmerman (37,895), according to unofficial reports."

[4] Simmons, Heather. "Simmons: I'll serve to achieve top goals", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 24, 2011. Accessed December 23, 2023. "This past Wednesday evening (Jan. 19) I had the honor of being sworn in as an appointed member of the Gloucester County freeholder board and was granted the privilege of serving out the one-year unexpired board term Stephen M. Sweeney, the former freeholder director, who resigned."

[5] Connolly, John. "NJ election results 2023: State Senate, Assembly seats decided", The Record, November 9, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.

[6] Official List Candidates for General Assembly for General Election November 7, 2023, New Jersey Department of State, December 6, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.

[7] New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.

[8] Legislative Roster for District 3, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 21, 2024.

[GeneralResults-9] "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

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