Chairman of Schuylkill Democrats pushes for term limits

Yahoo

10-07-2025

Today's political conversations should include less partisan bickering and more effort to find solutions, said Schuylkill County Democratic Committee Chairman Todd Zimmerman.
So, Zimmerman is trying to get talk started about an issue he believes Republicans, Democrats and Independents all agree on — term limits.
'I think the majority of Americans share common ground on a lot of issues, including this one,' said Zimmerman, 65, of West Penn Twp.
He is hoping to make a push locally, then statewide and nationally, to get laws enacted to limit the number of terms lawmakers can serve and to set a maximum age at which they could run.
'Power corrupts,' he said in a letter he sent to media outlets. 'I generally believe that when people run for government, they want to bring about positive change. However, when they are involved too long, the lines get blurred. Billionaire donors give massive amounts of money to both parties.'
It is also time for a younger generation to have a voice in government, he said, pointing to politicians such as Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell, who continued to serve into their 80s, or, Chuck Grassley, who is 91.
The best way to bring that about, he said, would be constitutional amendments at the state and federal levels setting term and age limits.
He acknowledged that it could be tricky to get enough legislators to agree on specific numbers for term limits, but he wants to get that conversation going.
For example, maybe a U.S. representative would be limited to a maximum of 10 two-year terms, and could not run for election after the age of 75, he said. He also proposed that a senator be able to serve a maximum of four six-year terms, and also could not run for election after turning 75.
While he is flexible on those details, Zimmerman is convinced that some types of limits are needed, he said. The longer that politicians are in office, he said, the greater the chance that they are beholden to corporations, lobbyists and the ultra-rich who backed them financially, and the less work they are doing for the voters.
A survey of Americans by non-partisan Pew Research backed Zimmerman's theory that most voters support congressional term limits and age limits.
In the July 2023 survey, 87% of adults favored limiting the number of terms that members of Congress are allowed to serve, including 56% who strongly favored this proposal. Just 12% were opposed.
As for maximum age limits for elected officials in Washington, 79% favor them.
Regardless, Zimmerman is also correct that getting the state and U.S. constitutions changed will be a long, tough road, said Christopher Borick, political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.
Since the Bill of Rights was passed in 1789 there have been only 17 amendments, Borick said.
The last to pass was the 27th Amendment, which declared that if there are changes to Congress's salaries, they will not take effect until the next election of representatives. The bill passed in 1992 after being first proposed in 1789, a span of more than 202 years.
So even if Zimmerman were successful at the federal level, it would take years to accomplish, Borick said.
Usually, for an amendment to be approved and added to the Constitution, there are two steps:
* Two-thirds of both the U.S. Senate and house of representatives approve the amendment. They 'propose' the amendment to the states to be ratified.
* The legislatures of three-fourths of the states must ratify the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution.
Amending Pennsylvania's constitution is also a complicated process, and for an amendment to include the term and age limits that Zimmerman is seeking would be difficult, Borick said.
That is because many of the most powerful Pennsylvania lawmakers have been in office long enough to have already exceeded those limits, meaning they would essentially be legislating themselves out of a job, Borick said.
'It's an uphill battle,' he said.
Christopher Borick, political science professor at Muhlenberg College.
Still, Borick said that it makes sense for Zimmerman to try what he's doing since it would likely receive widespread voter backing and be looked at favorably by voters.
'Historically, term limits often have received the biggest support among Republicans,' he said. 'So, there is some commonality here across the deep political divide that separates Americans based on partisanship.'
The Pennsylvania Democratic and Republican parties did not respond to requests for comment.
Zimmerman, an adjunct history professor at Lehigh Carbon and Northampton community colleges, has headed the Schuylkill Democratic committee since 2022.
He said his campaign is his personal position, though, and does not reflect that of the party.
He also said he would soon like to begin a dialogue with like-minded Republicans, independents and Democrats to start what will be a long process, then host an in-person event this summer to discuss strategy for changing the Pennsylvania and U.S. constitutions.
Anyone interested, he said, is welcome to go online to schuylkilldems.com and click on 'contact' to reach him.
'We have to start this, and then I think it will spread,' he said. 'If we can get this done in Pennsylvania, I think other states will follow pretty quickly.'