If the reports are accurate – frankly, there has been so much confusion over the last six weeks that it’s hard to believe any of this – Republicans may have found a credible U.S. Senate candidate in Dick Zimmer.
The brainy 64-year-old lawyer from Hunterdon County served three terms as a Congressman from the twelfth district before running for the U.S. Senate in 1996. In a race that appeared close almost until the end, Zimmer lost 53%-43% to Democrat Bob Torricelli. Before his election to Congress in 1990, he served as an Assemblyman and State Senator and was Chairman of New Jersey Common Cause. He lost a comeback bid in 2000, defeating former Rep. Mike Pappas in the GOP primary but losing to freshman Democratic Rep. Rush Holt in the general by just 1,101 votes.
Some pundits believe that Zimmer might have beaten Frank Lautenberg in the very Republican year of 1994 — when he wanted to run and when the state GOP went with then-Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian instead. With the permission of Andy Unanue’s Committee on Vacancies, Zimmer could enter the race despite the passing of Monday’s filing deadline. He would likely inherit Unanue’s organizational support.
