Jeff Smith (Missouri politician)

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Jeff Smith

Member of the Missouri State Senate from the 4th district
In office 2007 -

Born	December 9, 1973 (1973-12-09) (age 34) St. Louis, Missouri
Political party	Democratic

Jeff Smith is a Democratic member of the Missouri Senate, representing the 4th district since 2007. His district covers the western portion of the City of St. Louis.

Smith was raised in the St. Louis suburb of Olivette, Missouri and graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in African-American Studies and political science. He received his MA and PhD in political science from Washington University in St. Louis. [1]

Smith has taught at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and Dartmouth College and won the 2002 Washington University Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2001, Smith co-founded the Confluence Academies, a group of charter schools in North St. Louis focusing on math and science education. [2]

In 2004, Smith was a candidate in the crowded Democratic primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives to replace retiring Congressman Dick Gephardt. Beginning as an unknown, Smith finished second in the ten-candidate field, narrowly losing to Russ Carnahan [3]. His campaign was widely recognized as an example of successful grassroots organizing. It was the subject of the documentary film Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, which won the 2006 audience choice award at the Silverdocs film festival [4]. In Feb 2007 the documentary aired on the award winning PBS series Independent Lens.

A year after his unsuccessful Congressional campaign, Smith announced his intention to seek the Missouri State Senate seat being vacated by Pat Dougherty. The race was heavily contested and other candidates included State Representatives Yaphett El-Amin, and Amber Boykins, former State Representative Derio Gambaro, and former St. Louis Alderman Kenny Jones. Smith won the primary election on August 8, 2006, and was unopposed in the general election. [5] Smith's win has created resentment among some African-Americans in the majority-black district who suggest that he benefited from multiple black candidates splitting the vote among that demographic.

July 31, 2007 Senator Smith received a summons after a casino employee gave him someone else's casino card because he had left his own driver's license in Jefferson City when traveling with other legislators to tour the Boonville gaming facility. [6]