Mark Zinna

Mark Zinna

Democratic Party

Education

Bachelor's

State University of New York, Albany

Contact

Personal website

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Mark Zinna was a 2017 Democratic candidate for Governor of New Jersey. He was defeated in the primary election on June 6, 2017.

Biography

Zinna was born in the Bronx in 1960 and moved to Bergen County, NJ at the age of four. His first full-time work experience was at a steel recycling facility in Hackensack after leaving high school early. After earning a high school equivalent degree, Zinna joined Merrill Corporation as a customer service representative and simultaneously attended the State University of New York at Albany. Zinna left Merrill Corporation as a vice president and pursued a varied career which included time in the consulting and restaurant businesses. In 2011, Zinna became the president of Data Production & Management Industry, which provides "Court reporting and document scanning & production for legal, ediscovery and business clients".

Education

• B.A. in political science and history - State University of New York at Albany

Political career

Tenafly Councilman (2012-present)

Zinna was first elected a councilman of the Borough of Tenafly in 2011. He took office in February 2011 and served as the president of the council in 2015 and 2016.

Tenafly Planning Board Member (2009-2011)

Zinna joined the Planning Board of Tenafly in June 2009 and served until December 2011.

Elections

2017

See also: New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2017

New Jersey held an election for governor and lieutenant governor on November 7, 2017. Governor Chris Christie (R) was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. New Jersey elects its governor and lieutenant governor together on a joint ticket.

The general election took place on November 7, 2017. The primary election was held on June 6, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in the primary election was April 3, 2017.

The following candidates ran in the election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.

New Jersey Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Phil Murphy/Sheila Oliver	56.03%	1,203,110
	Republican	Kim Guadagno/Carlos Rendo	41.89%	899,583
	Independent	Gina Genovese/Derel Stroud	0.57%	12,294
	Libertarian	Peter Rohrman/Karese Laguerre	0.49%	10,531
	Green	Seth Kaper-Dale/Lisa Durden	0.47%	10,053
	Constitution	Matt Riccardi	0.32%	6,864
	Independent	Vincent Ross/April Johnson	0.23%	4,980
Total Votes (6385/6385 precincts reporting)				2,147,415
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

Kim Guadagno defeated Jack Ciattarelli, Hirsh Singh, Joseph Rudy Rullo, and Steve Rogers in the Republican primary.

New Jersey Republican Gubernatorial Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kim Guadagno	46.82%	113,846
Jack Ciattarelli	31.08%	75,556
Hirsh Singh	9.76%	23,728
Joseph Rudy Rullo	6.51%	15,816
Steve Rogers	5.84%	14,187
Total Votes		243,133
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

Phil Murphy defeated Jim Johnson, John Wisniewski, Ray Lesniak, Bill Brennan, and Mark Zinna in the Democratic primary.

New Jersey Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Phil Murphy	48.42%	243,643
Jim Johnson	21.91%	110,250
John Wisniewski	21.57%	108,532
Ray Lesniak	4.83%	24,318
Bill Brennan	2.24%	11,263
Mark Zinna	1.04%	5,213
Total Votes		503,219
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

Campaign themes

2017

Zinna's campaign website highlighted the following themes:

“	My agenda is a bold and progressive one. As Governor, I will work to: Enact ‘New Jersey Cares’ (NJC), a “Medicare for All New Jerseyans” single-payer health care system Invest in renewable energy jobs and infrastructure while preventing pipeline expansion Fight the growing threat to women’s reproductive rights by expanding access to birth control and family planning Bring back jobs with new economy training programs and creative incentives for businesses and workers Make higher education affordable by providing no-interest student loans repayable as a portion of the graduate’s future earnings Fix the pension crisis once and for all with bonding to cover the existing shortfall; adjust the plan for new enrollees; end plan abuses; and protect current pensioners and employees Dismantle the failed Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, replacing it with smaller, more focused and responsive agencies End the power of party bosses and insiders to pick the candidates; curb corporate and PAC spending; and institute term limits for the legislature We can implement these and other progressive initiatives in New Jersey. But in order to accomplish this, we must overcome the power of big money and entrenched interests that are always resistant to a challenge from an outsider. Political Reform Money in politics has become a corrupting influence and a barrier to the entry of new people and ideas. The solution is simple: level the playing field. Corporations, special interest groups and political action committees aren’t people and shouldn’t be able to spend money on elections. Only actual people who can vote ought to contribute to political campaigns. We have term-limits for Governor in New Jersey. We should also set term limits on how many consecutive terms a legislator may serve. The consolidation and sharing of resources among New Jersey’s more than 500 municipalities should be strongly encouraged. This will reduce the costs of services and provide relief for our residents who are presently over-burdened with the highest property taxes in the nation.	”
—Mark Zinna

External links

Suggest a link

• Mark Zinna for Governor homepage
• Mark Zinna for Governor on Facebook
• New Jersey Legislature website