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Scott Simmons
Scott Simmons (Republican Party) ran for election to the Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 34B. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Scott Simmons earned his B.A. degree from St. Olaf College in 1981, his MBA from Drake University in 1983, and his J.D. from the William Mitchell College of Law in 1994. His career experience includes working as an attorney.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B
Incumbent Melissa Hortman defeated Scott Simmons in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Melissa Hortman (D) | 63.1 | 13,649 |
 | Scott Simmons (R) | 36.7 | 7,950 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 40 | ||
| Total votes: 21,639 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Hortman advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Scott Simmons advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Simmons in this election.
Pledges
Simmons signed the following pledges.
2023
See also: Anoka-Hennepin School District, Minnesota, elections (2023)
General election
General election for Anoka-Hennepin Board of Education District 5
Michelle Langenfeld defeated Scott Simmons and Cyrus Wilson in the general election for Anoka-Hennepin Board of Education District 5 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michelle Langenfeld (Nonpartisan) | 54.5 | 1,775 |
| Scott Simmons (Nonpartisan) | 43.2 | 1,405 | |
| Cyrus Wilson (Nonpartisan) | 2.1 | 67 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 8 | ||
| Total votes: 3,255 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Simmons received the following endorsements.
- Blaine City Cncl. Memb. Leslie Larson
- Coon Rapids City Cncl. Memb. Sean Novack (Nonpartisan)
- Senate District 31, Minn., Republican Party
- Senate District 35, Minn., Republican Party
- Anoka-Hennepin Parents Alliance
- Minnesota Parents Alliance
2022
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B
Incumbent Melissa Hortman defeated Scott Simmons in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Hortman (D) | 62.5 | 10,469 |
| Scott Simmons (R) | 37.4 | 6,268 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 19 | ||
| Total votes: 16,756 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Hortman advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Scott Simmons advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 34B.
2020
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 36B
Incumbent Melissa Hortman defeated Scott Simmons in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 36B on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Hortman (D) | 60.5 | 15,076 |
| Scott Simmons (R) | 39.4 | 9,828 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 34 | ||
| Total votes: 24,938 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Hortman advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 36B.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Scott Simmons advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 36B.
Campaign finance
2015
The election in Anoka-Hennepin featured three of the six seats on the board up for general election on November 3, 2015.
The seats of District 1 incumbent Tom Heidemann, District 2 incumbent Marci Anderson, and District 5 incumbent Nicole Hayes were up for election. All three incumbents filed to run for re-election. Hayes defeated challenger Scott Simmons in District 5. Heidemann and Anderson ran unopposed and won re-election to the District 1 and District 2 seats, respectively. Jamison Sawyer, who originally filed for the District 1 seat, withdrew from the race on August 13, 2015, and did not appear on the ballot.[3]
Results
| Anoka-Hennepin School District, District 5, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Nicole Hayes Incumbent |
78.1% | 421 |
| Scott Simmons | 20.8% | 112 |
| Write-in votes | 1.11% | 6 |
| Total Votes | 539 | |
| Source: Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School Districts No. 11," accessed November 3, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us. |
||
Funding
Simmons reported no contributions or expenditures to the Anoka County Elections & Voter Registration office during the election.[4]
Endorsements
Simmons did not receive any official endorsements during the election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Scott Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2023
Scott Simmons completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Simmons' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I’ve lived in Board Area 5 (Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park, Fridley and Brooklyn Center) for 29 years, am married and have raised two children (now in college) both graduating from the Anoka-Hennepin system.
Recently I took on the challenge of substitute teaching in the district. I know first-hand the problems we face and the need for a new Board outlook. Prior to this my professional life was entirely one of service to the community through the public sector. I’m more than ready to roll up my sleeves and work together with all the district’s stakeholders to make Anoka-Hennepin the best in the north metro.
Educational accomplishments: B.A. at St.Olaf College, M.B.A. at Drake University, J.D. at William Mitchell College of Law. I’ve been a licensed attorney since 1994.- Academic performance must be raised. Just about half of Anoka-Hennepin students cannot read at grade level. Consistent with the state's mandate for public education, which is to ensure individual academic achievement, the District’s primary mission must be to educate our kids to be successful by restoring high standards and closing achievement gaps. The decline in achievement has been going on far too long and therefore the status quo is not acceptable.
- Classroom safety must be ensured. A safe environment is needed for teachers to teach and for students to learn. All classroom disruption hurts learning. School Resource Officers (SRO's) must be put back and accountability must be restored to student conduct so that teachers, staff and all students feel safe and students are prepared to learn.
- Parental rights must be upheld. Parental engagement along with curriculum transparency empowers parents in their students’ education. The partnership between parents and teachers must be improved to restore strong A-H schools. Schools must never abrogate the basic right of a parent to teach their own values and beliefs to their children.
I want to restore the voice of reason and common sense to the Anoka-Hennepin school board. The district is no longer a district of choice. The status quo is failing a generation of students. We need to establish new priorities that put students first and that care more about parental rights than special interests.
Anoka-Hennepin Parents Alliance
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.
Other survey responses
Ballotpedia identified the following surveys, interviews, and questionnaires Simmons completed for other organizations. If you are aware of a link that should be added, email us.
2022
Scott Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Scott Simmons did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2015
Simmons completed a survey conducted by ABC Newspapers:
| “ | 1. Why are you running for School Board?
Together we can and must do better. We should strive to achieve better outcomes and embrace innovative and new opportunities for change, growth and success. My goal is to be a new voice, a new leader to improve all our students’ academic achievement, create stronger partnerships with parents, respect the taxpayers, make board decisions more transparent and represent the needs and concerns of the entire community while supporting the staff and teachers, making sure they have the resources needed to help students succeed and get them on track to reach their full potential. I hope my contributions and ideas along with my depth of experience and lifelong commitment to public service will improve results and enhance the opportunities that the school district provides for its students and the communities of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Coon Rapids and Fridley. The risks of not doing better are too great. 2. What is Anoka-Hennepin’s biggest strength and largest weakness? This suburban district benefits from the parents and professional teaching staff that are actively engaged and committed to students’ success. Active parenting and exceptional teachers are key indicators in student learning and whether students ultimately achieve economic opportunity and success. A hidden strength is the skill and competence of the administrative staff that manages the state’s largest district. I recognize that there are challenges within the community and across the state and nation. No one can disagree that there is significant room for improvement. Unfortunately the Anoka-Hennepin district is the largest in the state and suffers from some of the inefficiencies that are inherent in large organizations. 3. Anoka-Hennepin administrators are planning to present between $4 million and $6 million in budget reduction options to the School Board in November. What options are off the table for you? What steps can be taken to prevent budget cuts in the future? There always appears to be a crisis in public school funding. However, the pain is rarely self-inflicted. The State Legislature is mostly to blame for not allowing districts to be flexible in how they use public dollars. School districts are not all created equal, and Anoka-Hennepin would benefit greatly from less state management and more local control. Still, if there are cuts, funding that relates in any way to student achievement and academic performance should be held harmless. Absent significant state funding reorganization, the prudent use of budget reserves to address some of the unpredictable funding shortfalls is a reasonable short-term step.[5] |
” |
| —ABC Newspapers survey (2015)[1] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 ABC Newspapers, "Three seats up for election on Anoka-Hennepin board," October 23, 2015
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 11, 2023
- ↑ Sun Post, "Coon Rapids candidate withdraws from A-H school board race," August 24, 2015
- ↑ Anoka County Elections & Voter Registration, "Campaign Finance," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
