Leon Zimmerman, a longtime lobbyist and publicist for the Standardbred Horse Industry in New Jersey, has been inducted into the Communicators’ Corner of the National Harness Racing Hall of Fame in Goshen, N.Y., it was announced by the United States Harness Writers Association [USHWA], which conducts the balloting. Zimmerman was inducted July 5, 2009 at a dinner at the Hall of Fame. He was also among the honorees at a February 2009 "Night of Stars" dinner in Las Vegas, during the Harness Racing Congress there.

Prior to starting his own governmental consulting firm in 1973, he was an award-winning journalist for The Record of Hackensack, one of New Jersey’s largest daily newspapers. He served as politics editor and State House bureau chief for six years of a 12-year career, from 1960 to 1972. He earned an award in 1969 for distinguished reporting of public affairs from the American Political Science Association. He left The Record in 1972 to direct a statewide campaign for tax reform under the leadership of the late New Jersey Gov. William T. Cahill.

In addition to his legislative representation of the harness racing industry in New Jersey for 35 years until retiring in 2009, his lobbying firm’s clients continues to represent other state associations and businesses, including the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey, also for 35 years.

He is a past president of USHWA and the founding president of the New Jersey USHWA Chapter, and a past president of the North American Harness Publicists Association. It was Zimmerman who orchestrated exhibition charity harness races involving then-Governor Christine Todd Whitman and dozens of N. J. State Legislators. He also handles marketing and publicity matters for the New Jersey Sire Stakes Program in the State Department of Agriculture. 

Zimmerman has been a long-time advocate for the developmentally disabled, serving by appointment of several governors as a member of the Governor’s Council on the Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and the New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council for a total of 30 years. He currently is a member of the Board of Trustees of Bancroft NeuroHealth, one of the leading providers of services for children and adults with neurological and related disabilities.

In addition to the degree he earned at Montclair State, Zimmerman also attended the Graduate School of Journalism at Penn State University and the American Press Institute at Columbia University.