Eric Zimmerman Trades Campaign Trail for National Guard Duty

The D4 candidate says he’ll monitor results while at Camp Rilea for a planning conference.

Maja Viklands Harris Avatar
Eric Zimmerman, a District 4 candidate

District 4 City Council candidate Eric Zimmerman is spending Election Week a bit differently than his fellow contenders—on duty with the Oregon National Guard. An army veteran and current chief of staff to Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, Zimmerman is trading door-knocking for a weeklong military planning conference at Camp Rilea on the Oregon Coast.

Zimmerman, a soon-to-be battalion commander, says he might drive back to Portland on Election Night to stop by a watch party or two. However, with many council races unlikely to be called until later in the week, he anticipates quietly monitoring his own results while attending to guard duties.

“I’ll probably have a smirk or a blank stare, depending on how things go,” he joked, explaining that military ethics require him to keep the results to himself. “We try to be super non-political in the Army… I imagine some people have no idea what I do in my civilian life.”

Celebrating 17 years with the National Guard this year, Zimmerman plans to make decisions about his future service after Election Day. National Guard service is structured to allow members to hold civilian jobs or attend school, and typically happens on weekends.

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