Justin Simmons is an American politician and former member of the Republican Party who served five terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 131st District.

Early life and education

Simmons was born in 1986 in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, raised in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

and graduated from

Southern Lehigh High School Southern Lehigh High School is a four-year public high school located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the only high school in the Southern Lehigh School District. As of the 2020-21 school ...

and

Saint Joseph’s University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh ol ...

. He served as an intern for then- Congressman

Pat Toomey Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representa ...

and later served as a legislative aide for State Senators

Rob Wonderling Robert C. Wonderling (born December 22, 1961) was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who represented the 24th District from 2003 to 2009. The district he represented includes portions of Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh and Northa ...

and Bob Mensch, where he conducted research for state legislation. He ran the Northampton County district office and attended events within the district. He also served as a Republican committeeman in Lehigh County and as president of the Lehigh Valley Young Republicans.

Political career

Simmons was first elected to the Pennsylvania State House in November 2010, defeating incumbent Republican

Karen Beyer Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

in the May 2010 primary. As State Representative, he stated that he favors selling the state liquor stores and reducing the size of the state legislature. He also said he supports term limits, part-time status for members of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

and operating on a two-year budget cycle. Simmons promised to refuse per diems, a state-owned vehicle, and a pension. In 2020, he announced that he would not seek reelection.

References

External links

Justin Simmons (R)
official Pennsylvania State House website Living people 21st-century American politicians Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Saint Joseph's University alumni Southern Lehigh High School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{Pennsylvania-PARepresentative-stub