State Reps. Marcia Hahn (R-Northampton) and Justin Simmons (R-Lehigh) announced on Thursday morning that they are not seeking reelection in 2020. Simmons decision opens up a swing seat in the Lehigh Valley.
“While this is a bittersweet moment as I have been honored to serve the people of our community, I can do so knowing that I contributed to making a difference not only for the residents of Lehigh, Northampton and Montgomery Counties, but for all Pennsylvanians,” Simmons said in a release.
“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to represent the people of the 138th District for these past nine years,” Hahn said in a release. “For nearly a decade, I have advocated for smaller government, better education and for assistance to our state’s critical agriculture industry. I am proud that, in many cases, I have succeeded in delivering the people of Northampton County with the representation they deserve.”
Hahn and Simmons were both first elected to the state House in 2010. In Simmons’s retirement announcement, he also touted his work “promoting commonsense limited government policies, increased free market competition, and sparking job growth,” in the announcement about his retirement from the state House.
“I am proud of the record I have built advocating for the principles I have espoused throughout my career while still working across the aisle,” Simmons said. “My service in the State House is, and always will be, a highlight in both my professional and personal life.”
He briefly ran for Congress in 2017-18, seeking to primary then-Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Lehigh) before the Congressman resigned mid-term. In recent years he faced criticism for seeking a fourth and fifth term in the House despite taking a three term limit pledge in his first campaign.
Simmons won his most recent reelection bid in 2018 by 5.5 points over Democrat Andrew Lee. According to DailyKos, his district supported President Donald Trump over Sec. Hillary Clinton by 11 points in 2016.
While his district is GOP leaning, Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Bob Casey both edged out their GOP challengers in 2018, according to Ben Forstate.
Wolf won this seat with 53 percent of the vote, Casey with 51 percent. So this isn’t easy, but it’s possible. Those numbers courtesy of @4st8.
— Stephen Caruso (@StephenJ_Caruso) December 19, 2019
Hahn represents a much more GOP friendly seat. She won her most recent reelection bid in 2018 by 17 points over Democrat Dean Donaher. Her district also voted for Trump over Clinton by a 17 point margin in 2016.
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50 Responses
Justin is not qualified to work a real job. What will he do?
There always has been intense dislike for Justin and a small, shrinking, really vocal base of support for him that included: his mom, his lovely wife (who divorced him), Elmer (passes away), Dustin (who left his office because he had had it), Dan, (who left after Justin broke his term limits pledge), Karen Richardson (who moved out of the area), and Donna Baran (no comment necessary lol). I hope Justin gets the help he needs and does another 30 day stint if necessary to address his issues. He’s in my prayers. God bless!
As a recent graduate in the study of linguistics and a future FBI profiler. I am witnessing that the same person is writing all these opposition comments. Give it up! I know Wow! I know your identity and you should be very careful. You are defaming people. A civil lawsuit through discovery will expose all of your shenanigans.
Those fake comments are just laughable! Sad, really! If Justin’s support is so bad, WHY DID HE GET RE-ELECTED YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR??????? That’s all one needs to say, and his support if FAR broader then that!!!!! Maybe you should spend more energy talking about a failed career politician who abandoned his seat long before it was to end. Now THAT is pathetic! DNF8
Defamatory requires things to not be true. So what is not true in the statement?
The intense dislike is from people like you Wow. As you type away on your baseless comments that aren’t factually based and downright lies that is defamatory. I am not going to correct you on your lies. People in the district know and love Justin. Get over it! Justin has won every elections is proof enough that people love him.
All of comments are wrong!!!!!!!!
Also, since a legal threat was made I have contacted my attorney. Since you know my identity, you can intact me directly and I will gladly provide you their information. It will be fun to see who was making ALL of these comments! His same few people have been at it for years and have made lots of derogatory comments during that time which will now be exposed.
You will need it!
What? Where you a victim? Anyway, Merry christmas.
Whack job….
Merry Christmas Frank!
Billy Coyle is the only one that needs to get help. The fact that your still not over getting your ass handed to you in 2016 shows that you’re the one that needs actual help.
By the way, how’s the mattress business doing? Are you still taking your failed career out on your lovely wife? Loser.
BYE BOY? We want Justin to run again! He will be missed and is appreciated by his constituents.
Please just stop. This is Justin Simmons mom or Dustin, and it is getting embarrassing now. Please know that he has some supporters but also dissappointed a lot of people. That is why he did not even hold all of the Republican vote last time he won. It is a Republican seat by over 6 points. You can then assume a split of independents and he should have won by over 10 points. President Donald J. Trump won the district by 11 points. Justin Simmons only won by 5 points. For an 8 year state rep it is a problem if you aren’t even holding your base. It is because he lost support even amongst Republicans. That may be hard for you to understand, but it is a fact.
Embarrassing? It’s called being supportive of a good state rep. He won the election and the district is changing. We have transplants from New York and New Jersey moving/ relocating into the 131 district with their liberal, socialist policies.
Just another fake comment perpetuated by sore loser Karen Beyer! What is is with these Dem women who can’t handle losing? This comment is so laughable. At least Justin Simmons didn’t hide behind only handing out citations and proclamations like some legislators! He actually worked to accomplish things. Most recently he secured 1M in funding for the road improvement for the new WAWA going in to his district! You do realize these comments mean nothing. And, if you think for one moment that ugly hashtag had anything to do with him dropping out of the Congressional race you are sorely mistaken Karen …or Jessica for that matter!
So he used my tax dollars when WAWA should have paid for the improvement?! This is what I am talking about when I think Justin Simmons was a big disappointment for me! He said he was such a fiscal conservative and then bragged about how much pork he handed out in his goodbye news release. Shameful!
OMG! Wawa is a private company. What pork? Your comment is baseless and lacks any factual evidence. That’s typical for a deceptive person.
Tax dollars to a private company. Call it corporate welfare then if you’d like. I am opposed to that as well! Justin Simmons was a typical politician. Shameful.
Clearly you are uneducated on the workings of the state legislature!
Bring back that hashtag! Now that he is not running again, he will be MIA from everything. Oh wait…that’s how he has been for years! I never saw a hashtag take down a congressional candidate as fast as #NoShowSimmons did. It worked bc it was true though. It still makes me laugh. lol
It was Justin’s decision and not, some stupid hashtag. He has worked for his constituents as reflective by the 94% voting record.His constituents are loyal to him.If, he decided to run for office, he would be re-elected.I suppose that examination of the facts doesn’t matter to you, it was Congressman Dent that abandoned his constituents for 15 months since, he was primaried by Justin. Talk about a no show!
Karen R. from Arizona and MAGA – I will have to politely disagree. Justin has been a big disappointment. I supported him when he ran against Beyer. He broke his term limits pledge. That was in his control. He turned into just another politician. I am glad he is leaving. We need real conservatives who stick to their word like President Donald J. Trump. Justin Simmons turned out to be another failure and disgrace.
Well, first of all let me say that I am grateful that you are a Trump supporter. At least I know this isn’t sore loser Karen Beyer speaking. But, you should be commending him for all he has done, for HIS support of President Trump, for HIM being a truer then true conservative, and I’d love for you to give me 3 reasons why you disagree with that. It was Justin’s constituents who approached him to continue running bc they liked the worked he was doing for THEM. After a long, hard deliberation he listened to them and ran another 2 years. 10 yrs does not a career politician make. What makes a career politician is Charlie the turd Dent who barely had a professional job and was elected to office in 1990 and then when Justin Simmons challenged him in a primary he ran with the tail between his legs and abandoned his constituents leaving them without representation for over a year…… that sir or maam is a dirty politician!
Thank you for your response Karen. No love lost for Charlie Dent here either. He is a spiteful person and President Donald J. Trump and the public is better off that he is out of office. I suppose we will just have to disagree about Justin Simmons. I think we are better off without him also. Merry Christmas!
Karen Richardson, I totally agree with you. The Trump Republican doesn’t understand that his constituents did ask him to run for office, again. That he wasn’t another politician. He did an impressive job as a state representative despite the constant attacks, criticism, harassment and querulous social keyboard warriors with their feckless attacks.He will be missed, as a true conservative.
I’m not sure that people asking you to run again or not makes much of a difference. I care about elected officials and their voting records. Justin Simmons had a spotty voting record (that is a fact and in the Morning Call article he did not deny it and said it was because of his OCD). So I am not sure why you are defending what even Justin Simmons himself won’t. Also, he did break his term limits pledge, as has already been pointed out. The other things he did were occasionally a disappointment to us real conservatives as well but I have gone on long enough. Merry Christmas to you as well MAGA! At least we will be in the same side in 2020!
Trump supporter and Wow, you are the same person. Be careful! Defaming people’s character does reflect well towards your character.
Justin is still the state rep. of district 131. Just like Trump is still our president.
Dems can’t run on policy or achievements. They just spew lies and do character assassination. Justin on the other hand is hard worker representing his constituents, unlike the dems constant tax and spend policies.
Dem Policies:
1) Raise minimum wage
2) Affordable healthcare and insurance
3) Education and job training
4) Increase use of renewable energy
5) Make it harder for criminals (and potential criminals) to get guns (and make it impossible to get high-capacity and automatic weapons)
6) Make it easier for working people to vote (early voting)
Delusional! Dems want free education….who will pay for that! Dems want higher minimum wage that will put people out of work. Just look at the fast food joints today who have less people working. Do you keep your cashier working or do you use the self check out? Hmmm You can try making it harder for criminals to get guns, but just like legalizing drugs….. the criminals buy on the black market. Wise the f up! Voting shouldn’t be made EASY! It’s a right and a privilege. Get off your lazy ass and show up at the polls. Early voting results in MORE voter fraud. And, I’m just addressing YOUR comments! There are a ton more why if the Dems rule the country America is DOOMED!
I wish you well in your future endeavors, Justin! For some reason I see you entering politics in the future! But, for now take time to relax and enjoy life! Know that you did an amazing job as State Rep! I’m pleased and honored to have helped you win every election you faced!!!!! EVERY ONE! Despite the challenges from the first primary you ran!!!! Oh, and Justin, anyone discussing your voting record is a fool who doesn’t know how H’burg works! You have a strong voting record in the mid 90s! Impressive!!!!
Justin would win again if, he ran. People is his district are loyal to him and don’t care about keyboard warriors. He has represented his district well. I am so proud of him and his accomplishments. Best of luck to Justin! I am sure that great things will keep happening to him.
Seriously! How about He’s done 10 great years and ready for someone else to take over. If he were to stay you’d be all over him for that! Typical Ahole Dem!
Justin is one politician that should run again. He won ever election that he ran in.
Justin Simmons voting rate was 94%
“promoting commonsense limited government policies” – Taking away services for the poor
“increased free market competition” – reducing oversight of companies so they can pollute and cheat customers
“sparking job growth” – Trying to take credit for Obama fixing the economy and jobs
What services were taken from the poor? What oversight are you referring to? What the F does Obama have to do with state politics? Seems to me that you know nothing about PA Politics and are just spewing garbage!
Larry-
These are Republican policy talking points and what they really mean.
Access to abortion services have been restricted. The PA GOP has tried to restrict money to SEPTA and public transportation.
Jobs improved nationwide under Obama, and PA’s improvements were due to the nation rise, NOT anything Hahn said she did.
OK, well, what the Republicans are concerned about is federal money being used for abortions. Do we believe in abortion….no, absolutely not. But, it will continue to happen. So the Republicans are saying NO TAX DOLLAR MONEY! I believe that is a good call!
Abandoning the sinking shitstorm SS Trump.
President Trump has nothing to do with the decision that Rep Simmons has made. ARe you in Pittsburgh making this comment? What do you know about the 131st. Unless of course you are related to Karen Beyer the failed rep who lost to Justin in 2009. Are you?
The SS shitstorm was created by Pelos, Nadler and Schiff. Just like the Titanic, they will sink and the red wave will happen. That’s on a national level and doesn’t have anything to do with the politics of Pa. Obviously, gulag Pittsburg( Karen Loser Beyer) you have no knowledge of politics.
Justin Simmons was going to lose if he ran again now that he had been exposed for missing 500+ votes and breaking his term limits pledge. Good riddance and don’t let the door hit you on the way out!!
Missing 500 votes is fake news! Funny how you all always counted him out, yet he won every election with ease! Not that you Dems didn’t give him a hard time, but it was always over NOTHING! Let’s focus on what a great job he has done for the 131st! My guess is that some of these comments are coming from Karen Beyer and her sad little delusional team! Like Hillary, she never got over her loss!
Justin has done an awesome job. The 500 missed votes is a big lie. People know that it’s absolutely fake news.
No, I hate the Fake News like CNN. But Justin did miss the votes. I was skeptical myself, but I researched it on the PA House website and it is accurate. You can look it up yourself. He did miss 500 votes. Disgraceful that he did that with my tax dollars.
Justin didn’t vote when, got married, due to illness and the birth of his child. Someone with an ounce of compassion would understand that. Besides, some of us have a job and I have to go to work. Have a nice day!
BYE JUSTY!