Don Zimmerman
Republican | Texas
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Don Zimmerman
Party
Republican
Election Year
2020
Election
Primary
Race
State Rep., Dist. 47
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 1980
Texas A&M University, College Station, B.S., 1984
Texas A&M University, College Station, M.S., 1986
WORK & MILITARY
(Candidate did not provide)
AFFILIATIONS
Travis County Republican Party, Precinct Chair, Republican Party
National Delegate 2012, Travis County Republican Party, State Republic Exec. Comm. SD-14
Republican Party, State Conv. Delegate 1996 through 2018, Travis County Taxpayers Union
Founder & Past Treasurer
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
NW Austin MUD #1 President, 8
Austin Dist. 6 City Council, 2
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
State Rep HD-50, 2006
(Anti-)Tax Assessor-Collector, 2008
Race
Previous Races
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (2)
Sid Miller
Texas Right to Life
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (6)
Former State Sen. Donald Huffines
Former State Rep. David Simpson
Former State Rep. Kent Grusendorf
Former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson
Cornelia Foster Wood (Finance Chair)
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (14)
Briscoe Cain (2016)
David Simpson (2016)
Don Huffines (2014)
Donna Campbell (2012)
Jerry E. Patterson (2011)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (8)
Don Huffines (2019)
Gary Gates (2006)
Jerry E. Patterson (2019)
Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2014)
National Right to Life Committee (2006)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds or grants from federal, state, or local governments.
Strongly Agree
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
Ectopic pregnancy
ECONOMY
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has a livable income.
Strongly Disagree
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
I would vote to eliminate the "enterprise fund" which politicians use to subsidize their favorite corporations to move to Texas, and I would promote school choice as a way to improve education and dramatically cut costs. As witnessed by the Austin ISD radical LGBTQ sex education indoctrination voted into the "curriculum" in Oct. 2019, monopoly government school has become a radical political organization willing to spend unlimited tax dollars in defiance of parents.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Governments should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
Governments should define marriage as between one man and one woman; no other definition of marriage should be legalized or supported with taxpayer or public funds.
Strongly Agree
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Strongly Agree
I promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles.
Yes
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
It means what Thomas Jefferson meant when he wrote it in 1802 in his letter to the Danbury Baptists. It is currently misused to imply two falsehoods. First, anti-Christian forces fraudulently imply this letter means that Jefferson, and the founders, resisted the influence of Christian "church" instruction, especially through organized religious institutions, over "state" government policy. Second, the implication is that a humanist-religion government (which we largely have now), which denies the existence and moral authority of God on questions of law, is morally superior to so-called "religious" inspiration on questions of law. The greatest criminal conspiracy in world history was the world's greatest church (the Jewish Synagogue) and the world's greatest state (the Roman government, from which the American Republic borrows a great deal in the court system and divided government branches), conspiring together to execute the world's only perfect man and true legal authority.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Strongly Disagree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
Terms like "affordable", are virtually impossible to define. No problem can ever be solved when described in such meaningless terms as "affordable" - what is "affordable" to Michael Dell is NOT affordable to a low wage earner, nor is it just or "fair" to expect a low wage earner to have "access" to care only a billionaire can afford. And even a billionaire like Steve Jobs cannot save his life with "healthcare". Health care costs are out of control because of government mandates and complex market interference -- for instance, forcing hospitals to provide "free" health care to all, including illegal immigrants, with costs redistributed to others who overpay. I will look at the success of the dental industry in advancing technology - improving care - at relatively affordable costs. Health care policy is extremely complex, and probably needs a new legal framework for affordable business models between patients and doctors, to decrease control of government and insurance companies
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Agree
IMMIGRATION
I am in favor of construction of a wall and other necessary infrastructure on our border that gives complete control over entering and exiting the United States.
Strongly Agree
State and federal funds should be denied to any public or private entity, including but not limited to sanctuary cities, that are not in compliance with immigration laws.
Strongly Agree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
A limited number of immigrants with specialized skills could be admitted when job market forces suggest a critical shortage. Unskilled labor is NOT one of these areas, because it devalues the labor of those who lack the God given intellectual skills to succeed as highly educated doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
I support adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Promotion of the LGBT agenda in public schools, including teaching of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”, is completely inappropriate and should be opposed at the state and local level.
Strongly Agree
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
First, that Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the ultimate authority, based on His perfect life, demonstrations of power over nature, and Resurrection, are matters of historical fact, not religious faith. Second, as a consequence, any civil government law or judicial opinion in obvious defiance of the authority of Christ is as foolish and dangerous as declaring the laws of aerodynamics "unconstitutional".
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and immigration, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
Please provide publicly available information validating your answer to the previous question.
Zimmerman vs. Adler, lawsuit against Austin government for illegally using taxpayer dollars aiding abortion providers in defiance of SB-22. https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2019/09/advocates-cheer-abortion-aid-funding-zimmerman-sues-city/ Northwest Austin MUD #1 vs. Eric Holder, Supreme Court case instigated under my political leadership as President of that MUD, challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which was being abused by federal judges in partisan gerrymandering based on ethnicity. Northwest Austin MUD #1 vs. City of Austin, a challenge to an illegal property tax, instigated under my leadership as President of that MUD, which resulted in a legal victory and $18 million in taxpayer savings.
What education or experience qualifies you to hold the office for which you seek election?
I have a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering and many decades of experience solving highly complex engineering system problems, including control systems that could cause major loss of life and property if incorrectly designed/implemented. I combine that with decades of political experience, including two proven terms as elected official - what candidate for office every promised to ELIMINATE a property tax, and ACCOMPLISHED it!?
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I'm a 5th generation Texan born and raised in San Antonio. My Mom is a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and my Dad was an Air Force pilot and businessman. I've been married to Jennifer Winter Zimmerman over a decade and we have a son William Chase, our first born. I've lived in the same northwest Austin home since September of 2000.
JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY
I support the use of Sharia law as a basis for legislation and judicial decisions in the United States.
Strongly Disagree
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Mandatory minimum sentencing should be required and enforced for violent crimes.
Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
Should teachers be allowed to carry guns at school?
Yes
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Constitutional Carry
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Agree
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Strongly Disagree
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
1. A bill permitting central Texas CapMetro voters to petition for an election which re-allocates "transit" tax dollars away from empty trains and buses to desperately needed road expansions 2. A bill or resolution establishing a Task Force at the Attorney General's office to investigate and prosecute many violations of state law by partisan Democrat-Socialist governments -- such as the use of taxpayer funds for abortion aid in deliberate, public defiance of SB-22.
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Yes - partisan Democrats have chosen a political strategy to use false accusation of racism to promote deep division in civil society and to promote the injustice of preferential hiring and college admissions (among other things) on the basis of race. The Progressive political term "people of color" implies this racial bias, without a technical specification - a "brown-o-meter", or whatever, to define exactly what qualifies as preferential "color", considering that ALL human beings are created in the image of God with "color". Partisan racists must be publicly confronted and defeated. I will work to pass a Texas Constitutional Amendment legally barring state government institutions and political subdivisions from considering race in college admission and contract awards.
