Adrian Smith (politician) explained

Adrian Smith
State:Nebraska
Term Start:January 3, 2007
Predecessor:Tom Osborne
State Legislature1:Nebraska
District1:48th
Term Start1:January 1999
Term End1:January 2007
Predecessor1:Joyce Hillman
Successor1:John Harms
Birth Name:Adrian Michael Smith
Birth Date:19 December 1970
Birth Place:Scottsbluff, Nebraska, U.S.
Party:Republican
Children:2
Education:University of Nebraska–Lincoln (BA)

Adrian Michael Smith (born December 19, 1970) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 48th district in the Nebraska Legislature from 1999 to 2007. Smith is the dean of Nebraska's congressional delegation.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and at a young age moved with his family to a rural neighborhood south of Gering, Nebraska. After graduating from Gering High School in 1989, he attended Liberty University. He transferred to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln midway through his second year of college, graduating in 1993.[1] While a student at Nebraska, he interned in the Nebraska Governor's Office and, later, served as a legislative page in the Nebraska Legislature.

Early career

Smith returned to Gering after college, and in 1994 began serving as a member of the Gering City Council. He has also worked in the private sector as a realtor and marketing specialist for the housing industry.

Nebraska Legislature

Elections

In 1998, Smith defeated incumbent State Legislator Joyce Hillman 55%–45%.[2] In 2002, he was reelected to a second term unopposed.[3] Since Nebraska voters passed Initiative Measure 415 in 2001, he was term-limited.[4]

Committee assignments

Smith sat on the Natural Resources and Building Maintenance committees and was vice chair of the Transportation and Telecommunications committee.[5] He served as vice chair of the Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee and chaired the Four State Legislative Conference in 2001.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2006

Smith ran for the open seat in the 3rd district in the 2006 election. Three-term incumbent Tom Osborne gave up the seat to run for governor of Nebraska.Smith won the Republican primary with 39% of the vote in a field of five candidates. He faced Democrat Scott Kleeb, a ranch hand and Yale graduate, in the general election.

About a third of the funding for Smith's campaign came from members of the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative group that supports tax cuts, limited government, school choice, and eliminating agricultural subsidies and the US Department of Agriculture.[6]

For a time, Smith was presumed to be a prohibitive favorite in this overwhelmingly Republican district. The 3rd is one of the most Republican districts in the nation; presidential and statewide candidates routinely win it with 70% or more of the vote. The 3rd is extremely difficult to campaign in and has few unifying influences. It covers nearly 65000sqmi, two time zones, and 68.5 of Nebraska's 93 counties (one of which, Cherry County, is larger in area than the entire state of Connecticut). Despite that, Kleeb raised more money than any other Democrat had raised in the district in decades. Overall, the race was the most expensive in the district since it assumed its current configuration in 1963.

As the race become more competitive than initially expected, it received late national attention from the House campaign committees.[7] [8]

President George W. Bush made an appearance in the district two days before the election to campaign for Smith—a sign that the Republican party was concerned about its chances in what had long been presumed to be a very safe seat.[9]

In the end, Smith won by 10 percentage points, taking 55% of the vote to Kleeb's 45%.[10] This was the closest a Democrat had come to winning the district in 16 years; in 1990, Republican Bill Barrett defeated fellow Unicameral member Sandra Scofield by only 4,400 votes. It was also only the third time a Democrat had come reasonably close to winning this district in its current configuration; besides Barrett's narrow win in 1990, Virginia D. Smith won her first term by 737 votes in 1974.

Besides Bush's visit two days before the election, Smith likely rode the coattails of Governor Dave Heineman, who won many of the counties in the district with 80% or more of the vote in his bid for a full term.

2008

Smith won the primary with 87% of the vote.[11] He was reelected to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee Jay Stoddard 77%–23%.[12]

2010

Smith won the primary with 88% of the vote.[13] He was reelected to a third term, defeating Democratic nominee Rebekah Davis 70%–18%.[14]

2012

Smith won the Republican primary with 82% of the vote.[15] He was reelected to a fourth term, defeating Democratic nominee Mark Sullivan 74%–26%.[16]

2014

Smith won the Republican primary with 68% of the vote. He was reelected to a fifth term, defeating Democratic nominee Mark Sullivan a second time, 75%–25%.[17]

2016

Smith was unopposed in the Republican primary and the general election.[18]

2018

Smith was renominated with 66% of the vote. He was reelected to a seventh term, defeating Democratic nominee Paul Theobald 77%–23%.[19]

2020

Smith won the Republican primary over four other candidates with 83% of the vote, and won the general election with 78% of the vote over Democratic nominee Mark Elworth, a marijuana legalization activist.[20]

Tenure

In December 2020, Smith was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[21] incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[22] [23] [24]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." She also reprimanded Smith and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions."[25] [26] New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, citing section three of the 14th Amendment, called for Pelosi to not seat Smith and the other Republicans who signed the brief supporting the suit, arguing that "the text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States. Trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that."[27]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biographical Directory of United States Congress . SMITH, Adrian . August 1, 2007.
  2. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE Legislature 48 Race - Nov 03, 1998. June 9, 2016.
  3. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE Legislature 48 Race - Nov 05, 2002. June 9, 2016.
  4. Web site: National Conference of State Legislatures . Term Limits in Nebraska: A Timeline . March 20, 2006 . https://archive.today/20051129070206/http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legman/about/nebterm.htm . November 29, 2005 . dead . mdy .
  5. Web site: Nebraska Unicameral Legislature . Sen. Adrian M. Smith . March 15, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060219195502/http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/senators/district48.htm . February 19, 2006 . dead . mdy-all .
  6. News: O'Hanlon . Kevin . Moul gives Fortenberry run in fundraising . Lincoln Journal Star . October 16, 2006 . November 2, 2006.
  7. News: Walton . Don . GOP eye on 3rd District House race . Lincoln Journal Star . October 27, 2006 . November 10, 2006.
  8. News: Levinson . Nathan . Neb. Roundup: Bush Visit Points to GOP Vulnerability . . November 3, 2006 . November 10, 2006.
  9. News: Thompson . Jake . Robynn Tysver . Bush rallies GOP faithful in Grand Island . Omaha World-Herald . November 5, 2006 . November 10, 2006 . dead . http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050422175803/http%3A//www%2Eomaha%2Ecom/index%2Ephp?u_pg%3D1673 . April 22, 2005 .
  10. News: Hendee . David . Paul Hammel . Another Smith going to Washington . Omaha World-Herald . November 9, 2006 . November 10, 2006 . dead . http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050422175803/http%3A//www%2Eomaha%2Ecom/index%2Ephp?u_pg%3D1673 . April 22, 2005 .
  11. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE District 3 - R Primary Race - May 13, 2008. June 9, 2016.
  12. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=389426 Our Campaigns – NE – District 03 Race – November 4, 2008
  13. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE District 03- R Primary Race - May 11, 2010. June 9, 2016.
  14. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE - District 03 Race - Nov 02, 2010. June 9, 2016.
  15. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE District 3 - R Primary Race - May 15, 2012. June 9, 2016.
  16. Web site: Our Campaigns - NE - District 03 Race - Nov 06, 2012. June 9, 2016.
  17. Web site: Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2014. June 18, 2019.
  18. Web site: Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District election, 2016. June 18, 2019.
  19. Web site: Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District election, 2018. June 18, 2019.
  20. Web site: NE District 03 - 2020. Our Campaigns. July 28, 2021.
  21. Web site: Blood. Michael R.. Riccardi. Nicholas. December 5, 2020. Biden officially secures enough electors to become president. live. December 12, 2020. AP News. December 8, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201208201209/https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-elections-electoral-college-3e0b852c3cfadf853b08aecbfc3569fa.
  22. News: Liptak. Adam. Adam Liptak. 2020-12-11. Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-12-12. 0362-4331. December 11, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201211234955/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/politics/supreme-court-election-texas.html. live.
  23. Web site: Order in Pending Case. 2020-12-11. Supreme Court of the United States. December 11, 2020. December 11, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201211234004/https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/121120zr_p860.pdf. live.
  24. News: Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court. Daniella . Diaz. CNN. December 11, 2020. December 12, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201212000435/https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/politics/read-house-republicans-texas-supreme-court/index.html. live.
  25. News: Smith. David. 2020-12-12. Supreme court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn election results. 2020-12-13. The Guardian. en.
  26. Pelosi Statement on Supreme Court Rejecting GOP Election Sabotage Lawsuit . Speaker Nancy Pelosi . December 11, 2020 . December 13, 2020.
  27. Web site: Williams. Jordan. 2020-12-11. Democrat asks Pelosi to refuse to seat lawmakers supporting Trump's election challenges. 2020-12-12. The Hill. en. December 12, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201212055323/https://thehill.com/homenews/house/529883-rep-pascrell-jr-asks-pelosi-to-refuse-to-seat-lawmakers-supporting-trumps. live.
  28. Web site: Members. Congressional Constitution Caucus. 8 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180614044928/https://congressionalconstitutioncaucus-garrett.house.gov/about-us/membership. June 14, 2018. dead.
  29. Web site: Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. en.