Jefferson Smith (born June 29, 1973) is a former radio personality, and former politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. He is a member of the Democratic Party of Oregon, founder of the Bus Project, and served in the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 47 in east Portland, from 2009 to 2012. He was one of two candidates for Mayor of Portland in 2012 to advance beyond the primary election, but lost to Charlie Hales in the November general election.
He served in the 2010 and 2012 legislative sessions, but to facilitate his run for mayor, he did not run for reelection to the House and he vacated his seat after serving four years.
Early life and career
Smith was born in Portland in 1973 to attorney and former Umatilla County district attorney R. P. Joe Smith and family therapist Suzanne Peck. He was named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. He is a great-great-great grandnephew of Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism. His parents split before his second birthday, and he moved with his mother to South Pasadena, California. He returned to Portland during his seventh-grade year, and later became class president at Grant High School. His mother died of breast cancer when Smith was a teenager.
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Oregon, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. At his father's insistence, he took a year off during college, serving as a youth counselor in Lane County and then running youth sports programs in Washington, D.C. Smith went on to earn a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, where he finished in the top five percent in his class.
Following law school, Smith took a job at the New York City law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His second day on the job, he was asked to take a case defending tobacco companies. He declined, and returned to Oregon. He briefly worked for Stoel Rives, but became motivated to establish an organization dedicated to engaging young people with progressive politics. He soon left the law firm, founding the Bus Project in 2001. In 2003, he formed a brief partnership with Jason Skelton, forming the law firm of Smith & Skelton LLP.
Political career
In 2008, Smith was elected with no opposition to the Oregon House of Representatives representing House District 47. The seat had been vacated by Jeff Merkley, who was running for the United States Senate.
In the Legislature, Smith collaborated with representatives from rural Eastern Oregon to develop a statewide water strategy. He co-led the initiative called "Cool Schools" to create jobs by helping Oregon public schools begin retrofitting for energy savings. Smith co-led the legislature's budget transparency initiative to put Oregon government spending information online, and carried a bill to reduce the ratio of middle managers to line employees in state government. Smith also co-led the initiative to create online voter registration in Oregon, and carried a bill in the Legislature to allow trafficked minors to expunge their prostitution convictions upon reaching age 21 if they have had no other trouble with the law.
In April 2011, Smith released the results of a video he compiled of Oregon state representatives reciting the lyrics of Rick Astley's 1980s pop hit "Never Gonna Give You Up".
In September 2011, he announced he would run for Mayor of Portland in 2012. In the May 2012 primary election, Smith defeated most other candidates to become one of the two candidates advancing to the November general election. He received 32.9% of the vote in the primary, while Charlie Hales received 37.2%. In the general election, closing on November 6, 2012, Smith received approximately 31.3% of the vote and was defeated by Hales, who received 61.2%.
Smith served in the 2012 Legislative session, but to facilitate his run for mayor he did not run for reelection to the House and vacated his seat in the Legislature after serving four years.