Maryland Businessman Neal Simon Officially Enters 2018 Race for U.S. Senate
ROCKVILLE, Md. (PRWEB) February 06, 2018 -- Neal Simon, father, husband, philanthropist and CEO of a Rockville-based financial firm, today officially announced his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2018 as an independent candidate from Maryland.
At a news conference, Simon said it is time to put "people over politics" and noted the continued divisiveness and partisan divide in Congress as key factors in his decision to run for public office.
"Our leaders have stopped working together. They have stopped listening to each other and have stopped listening to the concerns of working people," said Simon in his remarks. "Our elected representatives are too interested in winning the next news cycle and protecting their place in the power structure than they are in fixing our schools, creating high-paying jobs, and lowering the high cost of healthcare for businesses and families."
The dysfunction in Congress is not just hurting average working people here in Maryland… it's a threat to democracy itself," Simon said. "Maryland deserves better. America deserves better. What was once the world's greatest deliberative body has forgotten how to function, is no longer able to address the issues that most people in Maryland and America are concerned about. This has to change."
Simon, 49, believes electing more non-partisan, centrist leaders will help end the gridlock that is paralyzing Congress.
"Electing more, non-partisan moderates to a divided Senate will tip the balance of power away from the partisan extremes and into the hands of independent leaders who will get the job done… Who will put people over politics and country over party," said Simon.
Simon's decision comes at a time when partisan acrimony is making independent voters the fastest growing voting bloc in Maryland, according to an analysis by The Baltimore Sun. Simultaneously, a groundswell of non-partisan activism is gaining national momentum. Led by moderate organizations, including the Centrist Project, soon to be renamed Unite America, the movement is inspiring voters across the country to look for moderate, independent candidates who will help change the divisive political environment from blame game politics to working together to get things done.
Simon, a business executive and community leader from Potomac, Md., will face the Democratic and Republican candidates in November. If successful, he would replace Democratic incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin, 74, who is currently running for his third term.
A graduate of Brown University with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and economics, Simon is the CEO of Bronfman Rothschild, an investment firm started in 2013 that today manages $6.1 billion in assets from 11 offices nationwide. An entrepreneur within the professional services world, Simon has successfully led five companies over the course of his career.
He is the current board chair of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, which gives away more than $70 million each year, making it the largest funder of local non-profit groups in the Washington, D.C. region. He also served for six years on the board of directors for Interfaith Works, which helps vulnerable neighborhoods in Maryland's Montgomery County fight poverty and homelessness. In 2016, Neal and his family were honored as Interfaith Works' "Humanitarians of the Year."
Simon said the two-party system is at the root of the Senate's inability to get things done.
"Because the problem with our two-party system IS the two-party system," said Simon. "Because our government should not be about red vs blue. It should be about red, white and blue. And, that, my fellow Marylanders is why today, unaffiliated from any political party, I am declaring my candidacy to represent you in the United States Senate."
In December of 2017, Simon announced the formation of an exploratory committee for a possible U.S. Senate run. Since the fall of 2017, Simon traversed his home state, meeting with Marylanders and businesses, as well as service-oriented and issue-focused groups, to discuss key concerns and initiatives impacting Maryland and the nation.
For more information, visit http://www.nealsimon.com, follow him on Twitter @nealjsimon and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nealjsimon.
Paid for by Neal Simon for U.S. Senate.
Leah Nurik, Gabriel Marketing Group, +1 703-945-3501, [email protected]
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