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Janie Zimmerman

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Janie Zimmerman
Image of Janie Zimmerman

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2019

Education

Bachelor's

Northwest Nazarene University, 1990

Graduate

Lewis and Clark College, 2014

Personal
Birthplace
Camp Springs, Md.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Special Education Teacher
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Janie Zimmerman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 60. Zimmerman lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Zimmerman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Zimmerman earned her bachelor's degree from Northwest Nazarene University in 1990 and her master's degree from Lewis and Clark College in 2014. Zimmerman's career experience includes working as a special education teacher.[1]

Elections

2019

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019

General election

General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 60

Incumbent James Edmunds II defeated Janie Zimmerman in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 60 on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Edmunds II
James Edmunds II (R)
 
66.2
 
14,461
Image of Janie Zimmerman
Janie Zimmerman (D) Candidate Connection
 
33.7
 
7,351
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
29

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 21,841
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

To see a list of endorsements for Janie Zimmerman, click here.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Janie Zimmerman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Zimmerman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am, first and foremost, a teacher. I have a passion for sharing knowledge but also for finding out who each child is, and helping them cope with all of the obstacles they face in life. I will carry this passion with me as a legislator, and find solutions to the most pressing problems Virginia faces. I have always felt called to help people at church, in the classroom, and even in the grocery store when I don't know the person. When I decided to run for office I asked my friends and family what they thought about the idea. I was somewhat surprised to hear them say that it was a perfect idea and they wondered why I hadn't thought about running for office before. I had always known I wanted to have a job in public service, but I thought that was why I was a teacher. Now I realize that teaching is only part of my service.
  • Rural Virginia deserves to be heard, and I plan to be tuned in to the voices of rural Virginia when I am in office. All Virginians deserve to be understood and to have their needs known and attended to no matter where they live in the Commonwealth.
  • I plan to focus on improving the lives of rural Virginians through accessable, affordable healthcare, education funding that's equal to the rest of Virginia, and access to rural broadband.
  • I am committed to addressing climate change, and hope to work towards mandatory recycling as one means of accomplishing this.
As a teacher my personal passion is education. I have worked in many schools and the inequality I see among schools is sometimes shocking. Federal, state, and local funding can vary widely among school divisions. Parent and community involvement can also either make or break many school programs such as sports and after school programs. I want to work with my fellow delegates to find a solution to school funding, not just a temporary fix. Teachers should be paid a fair salary that takes into account the amount of education they had to get in order to become a teacher. Schools should not have to fundraise for sports, band, choir, or any other program or class. Enough teachers should be hired so that class sizes can be small enough to reach all students' needs. Basically, the community should value schools enough so they are fully funded in order to better educate the students that are the foundation of every career. No adult would be where they are today without the teachers who helped get them there when they were young.
I feel that it's critical to be available to the people I represent, to be transparent and honest, and to be educated and informed. If I am not all of those things, I am not fulfilling the duties of the office. For me to truly represent the people of the 60th district, I have to know and understand who they are and what is most important to them. If elected, I would be their representative, and not fulfilling my own agenda, or that of any corporation, lobbyist,or other special interest group. My only obligation is to my constituents. I can not be bought or compromised for any amount of money.
I would like to be remembered as a legislator who truly heard the people of my district, and worked hard as an advocate and activist. Rural Virginia is often overlooked, and I would like to help change that.
My first job was working at the Oregon State Fair. I started when I was 14 years old working in August to get the grounds ready for the fair to start and then working during the fair picking up trash using a stick with a nail on the end and a garbage bag. (This was before those grabbers were invented I would guess) I worked at the fair every summer through college. After I taught for a few years, I ended up working at the Oregon State Fair again with the Crowd Management/Security Company I worked as a second job to make up for low teacher pay. That first job, at 14 years old, was the toughest, dirtiest job I have ever held. I scrubbed bleachers and benches, painted curbs and buildings, and cleaned up a lot of garbage. I was exhausted after work just about every day. While working the security job I found my voice. I was able to help people stay safe at concerts and events so they could enjoy themselves as well as the other attendees around them. I also had to enforce rules that were often unpopular with many people. It was my job to enforce the rule or ask them to leave.
While remembering this first job it brings me to my future duties as a delegate. I will have to be assertive, but also fair and reasonable just like I had to do when dealing with fairgoers around the rules. I will also have to work hard to research and write legislation that helps Virginia. All of these things can be exhausting, but it will be worth it to help shape the future of the Commonwealth.
I would be Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games Series. In the books, Katniss volunteers to be Tribute in order to save her sister. She uses her intelligence and instincts to outsmart and outwit the other players during the Games. Throughout the series she works with others to expose and overthrow the corrupt government that treats the Capitol Rich better than all the other districts. The districts have to work just to make the citizens of the Capitol more than comfortable while their citizens suffer. I like how Katniss was caring toward her family but also tough and brave when facing the challanges of basically saving the country from the evil President Snow.
I believe it can be beneficial, but isn't necessary. Life experiences, as well as education can provide important background information for the legislator to draw upon. I feel that prior experience can sometimes be a disadvantage, as it can be easy to become jaded, or to get stuck in the mindset of what has always been done, instead of looking at situations with a fresh perspective.
I am currently in awe of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has changed the landscape of politics for women, people of color, and young people in general. She is one of the reasons I felt I could run for Delegate in Virginia. She came to politics with no political experience but has a passion for fighting for what she, and her constituents, believe in. I believe she will help bring positive change to our country even though she is pushing through the many obstacles being placed in front of her by our current leader. I hope to bring positive change to Virginia, especially rural Virginia, even if there are challenges along the way.
I would consider running for other political offices in the future. I believe in standing up for those who are unable to do so themselves, and see being involved politically as an important way to do so. I'm not sure what office it would be because I hope to spend many years as Delegate in the 60th District before I would consider another office.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2019 Elections

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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 23, 2019


Current members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Don Scott
Majority Leader:Charniele Herring
Minority Leader:Terry Kilgore
Representatives
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Jas Singh (D)
District 27
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Vacant
District 34
Tony Wilt (R)
District 35
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Eric Zehr (R)
District 52
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Lee Ware (R)
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Don Scott (D)
District 89
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District 100
Democratic Party (51)
Republican Party (48)
Vacancies (1)


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