State Rep. Justin J. Simmons will not return to the state capitol in Harrisburg next month.

“I am going into the private sector and private life,” Simmons said in a phone interview Dec. 14.

In a media announcement of his decision not to seek re-election to the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives dated December 2019, Simmons wrote:

“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, Montgomery and Northampton counties, but for all Pennsylvanians.”

Milou Mackenzie, Representative-elect, is slated to fill the 131st District seat formerly held by Simmons.

The 131st District includes Coopersburg, Emmaus, Lower Milford Township, part of Ward 3 in Salisbury Township, Upper Milford Township and Upper Saucon Township in Lehigh County; East Greenville, Pennsburg, Red Hill and Upper Hanover Township in Montgomery County and Districts 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 of Lower Saucon Township in Northampton County.

In 2017 Simmons attempted a primary run for the United States Senate seat of Charlie Dent, a Republican, who held the then 15th Congressional District. Dent resigned his office in September 2017.

The 15th District was redrawn as the 7th District following Dent’s departure and is now held by Democrat Susan Wild.

Voters first sent Simmons to Harrisburg in 2011 after he defeated incumbent Karen Beyer in the May 2010 primary.

He served five consecutive terms.

Simmons was first elected when he was 23. He knew at the time he did not plan to be a career politician, he said Dec. 14.

“I didn’t want to do this forever,” Simmons said by phone.

Simmons suspended his campaign for Dent’s seat in November 2017, about two months after announcing his bid for the seat.

In his media release in December 2019, Simmons highlighted his early focus on “promoting commonsense limited government polices that helped protect taxpayers or Pennsylvania, increase free market competition and spark job growth.”

Topping his list of memories, Simmons said, is the dedication of a portion of Route 309 in Upper Saucon Township to Upper Saucon Township Police Officer David M. Petzold who was killed in the line of duty 2006. According to news coverage at the time, Petzold was moving a dead deer from the roadway when he was struck by a vehicle.

The Officer David M. Petzold Memorial Highway was dedicated in 2016, according to news reports. Simmons sponsored the legislation to name the section of highway for Petzold.

“I saw how much it meant to his family and people in the community,” Simmons said. “I was proud to do that.”

According to biographical information posted to the website www.legis.state.pa.us, Simmons graduated Southern Lehigh High School in 2004 and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Saint Joseph’s University, graduating in 2008.