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Heather Simmons

Assemblywoman Heather Simmons brings over a decade of local government experience to the New Jersey General Assembly. She served four terms on the Gloucester County Board of Commissioners, where she focused on economic development, infrastructure, workforce programs, and public services. As Deputy Director of the Board, she launched a $15 million small business loan fund and led post-pandemic recovery efforts. Simmons holds degrees in international relations and public relations, and currently serves as Vice President of Workforce Innovation and Partnerships at Rowan College of South Jersey. In the Assembly, she has sponsored a wide array of legislation related to healthcare affordability, education, labor conditions, tax relief, and environmental protections.Capizola has been contacted multiple times with opportunities to share updated information but has yet to provide a substantive response. Voters seeking detailed and current insights into his positions may find it difficult to evaluate his candidacy without greater transparency.

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Rating Explanation

Heather Simmons

While Assemblywoman Simmons has an extensive legislative record and a strong professional background, the lack of a centralized campaign website or clearly laid-out public platform makes it difficult for everyday voters to grasp her goals, values, and positions without committing to deep research. While she is occasionally visible on social media and has contributed a significant volume of sponsored legislation, she has not responded to outreach through official contact information, nor has she made efforts to centralize voter education about her work.

Given the volume of her legislative activity, her transparency rating may deserve a revision upward from a default “Low” to something closer to “Mixed” or “Moderate” — recognizing the public availability of her record but noting the lack of direct communication, future platform clarity, and summarization of prior work.

Note: While this is technically still the primary phase, both parties are running unopposed slates, meaning all four current candidates are expected to advance to the general election. This creates a valuable opportunity for candidates to begin clearly communicating their platforms early, giving voters more time to learn and engage. We encourage all candidates to take advantage of this head start by providing accessible, detailed information about their agendas and priorities.

For these reasons, Simmons receives a below average to average rating for transparency and accessibility.

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  3. Check the agenda & positions. Look for the candidate’s stated agenda and issue stances. We try to group them plainly so you can compare across candidates quickly.
  4. Read the Transparency/Accessibility rating. For a deeper look at how transparent the candidate has been (web presence, interviews, follow-ups, meet n greets) and how communicative they've been in response to outreach, see the rating and its short explanation. This helps you understand what’s easy to find and who is easy to contact.
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Heather Simmons

Running for:
State Assembly - Legislative District 3
Incumbent
Challenger

Websites

Quick Summary Assemblywoman Heather Simmons brings over a decade of local government experience to the New Jersey General Assembly. She served four terms on the Gloucester County Board of Commissioners, where she focused on economic development, infrastructure, workforce programs, and public services. As Deputy Director of the Board, she launched a $15 million small business loan fund and led post-pandemic recovery efforts. Simmons holds degrees in international relations and public relations, and currently serves as Vice President of Workforce Innovation and Partnerships at Rowan College of South Jersey. In the Assembly, she has sponsored a wide array of legislation related to healthcare affordability, education, labor conditions, tax relief, and environmental protections.Capizola has been contacted multiple times with opportunities to share updated information but has yet to provide a substantive response. Voters seeking detailed and current insights into his positions may find it difficult to evaluate his candidacy without greater transparency.

This election is on June 10th, 2025

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Transparency/Accessibility Rating: Low to Below Average

Explanation While Assemblywoman Simmons continues to bring a long legislative record and deep professional experience to the race, her campaign has not yet provided a clear, centralized avenue for voters to understand her priorities for the upcoming term. We are now well into the general election campaign season — with mail-in ballots already going out — and although we were able to attend an event where Simmons appeared, it was not structured around detailed campaign messaging. In addition, despite multiple attempts to connect (including public comment at a Gloucester County Commissioner meeting and direct follow-ups with her campaign team), we have not received a response to our questionnaire nor links to any comprehensive campaign materials.

Given the visibility of her past legislative work, her transparency/accessibility rating remains above a default “Low,” but at this point cannot be moved higher without direct, substantive communication from her campaign. A clear, public platform or direct response to our outreach effort would allow everyday voters to evaluate her goals and values without doing extensive independent research. We continue to invite Assemblywoman Simmons and her running mate to take advantage of this opportunity to share their agenda with the public.

Agenda

As of now, Assemblywoman Heather Simmons does not maintain a campaign website or formal public platform outlining her agenda for the 2025 election cycle. While her legislative record provides some insight into her interests — including healthcare affordability, small business support, and workforce development — these topics are pulled from past bills and do not constitute an official campaign agenda.

In other words, while it's possible to speculate on her priorities based on the bills she has sponsored, voters deserve more than guesswork. It's up to candidates to clearly and proactively communicate their plans — not up to voters to connect the dots. We encourage Assemblywoman Simmons to provide a formal platform so that voters can make informed decisions without needing to piece it together from legislative history.

Background and Experience

Heather Simmons is a longtime public servant from Gloucester County with a background in both education and government. She currently serves in the New Jersey General Assembly, having taken office in 2024, following four terms as a Gloucester County Commissioner — including service as Deputy Director. She was the longest-serving woman in that role.

Professionally, Simmons has held leadership roles at Rowan College of South Jersey and Rowan University, focusing on workforce innovation, strategic planning, and institutional partnerships. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and politics and a master’s degree in public relations.

Her public service resume includes involvement in economic development, workforce training, public infrastructure, and education. She has also served on regional planning and civic boards across South Jersey. In her short time in the Assembly, she has already sponsored a wide range of bills touching on healthcare, property tax relief, environmental regulation, and labor protections — indicating a broad policy interest.

That said, we still encourage the candidate to clearly communicate her agenda for this election cycle so that voters don’t need to rely on speculation or research to understand where she stands.