Steven Wayne Smith

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Steven Wayne Smith (born October 26, 1961), is a Republican former Texas Supreme Court associate justice, who was defeated for renomination in 2004 through the active opposition of Governor Rick Perry. He was unseated by Paul W. Green. Smith again lost -- very narrowly -- a bid for nomination to the court in the March 7, 2006, GOP primary, when Perry again opposed his candidacy. Smith did not file to run in the March 4, 2008, Republican primary for the high court.

Smith served on the high Texas court from November 2002 through January 2005. He is known for his conservative judicial philosophy and opposition to racial quotas.

Smith is a graduate of University of Texas Law School. While he was on the court, Smith authored sixteen published opinions, including the court's landmark decision in Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services v. Mega Child Care. His work was lauded by Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson.

[edit] Election of 2002

Smith was elected to the court in 2002 by first defeating Xavier Rodriguez, an appointee of Governor Rick Perry, in the Republican primary. Smith polled 306,730 votes (53.49 percent) to Rodriguez's 266,648 ballots (46.50 percent). Rodriguez spent $558,000, called himself a "moderate," and lost; Smith spent $9,500, called himself a "conservative," and won in an upset.

Thereafter, Smith defeated Democrat Margaret Mirabal in the November general election. He polled 2,331,140 votes (54.09 percent), to Mirabal's 1,978,081 ballots (45.90 percent).

[edit] Hopwood v. Texas

Smith was an attorney in the controversial Hopwood v. Texas federal court case that struck down affirmative action policies in Texas law school admissions. In the early 1990s, Smith filed a lawsuit against the University of Texas School of Law on behalf of white applicants, including Cheryl Hopwood, who argued they had been denied entry because the school used affirmative action to bolster minority enrollment. The case was decided in favor of the sudents and Smith later trumpted that success during his campaigns. Smith's opponents and many newspapers attacked him for this success. His campaign manager, David Rogers, was one of the Hopwood plaintiffs.

[edit] Losing to Green: 2004 primary campaign

In 2004, Smith again tapped David Rogers to manage his campaign for a full six-year term on the Supreme Court. Rogers noted that in the 2002 primary election, while grass-roots Republicans supported Smith, many political insiders did not. Smith's 2004 supporters included the Texas Eagle Forum, former Governor William P. Clements, Jr., (for whom Smith worked in Clements' second term), former Congressman and Railroad Commissioner Kent Hance (who opposed Clements in the 1986 Republican gubernatorial primary), conservative/libertarian Congressman Ron Paul, and California activist Ward Connerly, president of the Civil Rights Institute.

Perry and Senator John Cornyn opposed Smith's candidacy and he eventually lost the primary to Green. Green was unopposed in the 2004 general election.

A controversial email that Smith sent out responding to Green's attack that Smith was short on credentials may have backfired and cost Smith some support. While touting his own academic achievements at the University of Texas School of Law, Smith disparaged Green’s academic achievements, namely that Green had graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, a smaller and less well known law school. Senator John Cornyn is a St. Mary's alumnus. Dean Bill Piatt of St. Mary’s blasted Smith, saying that it was inappropriate for a sitting Supreme Court justice to belittle one of the law schools in the State of Texas. Piatt widely distributed his letter that he had written to Smith to many alumni of St. Mary's and others in the legal community. Smith wrote a concilitory response letter to Piatt, but did not publicize that letter.

[edit] Smith challenges appointed Justice Willett

On January 3, 2006, Smith announced that he would enter the March 7 Republican primary for Place 2 on the Texas Supreme Court. He opposed Justice Don R. Willett of Austin, a Baylor and Duke University Law School graduate who was appointed to the bench in the fall of 2005 by Governor Perry to replace newly confirmed Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Priscilla Owen.

Both Willett and Smith took conservative legal positions with respect to the high court, which hears civil and juvenile appeals cases. Bush announced on January 19, 2006, that he was supporting Willett.

In 2004, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison supported Smith's reelection, but she endorsed Willett in the 2006 race. Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, himself a former Texas Supreme Court justice, also endorsed Willett. The San Antonio Express-News endorsed Willett, but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram endorsed Smith.

Smith lost to Willett by 4,979 votes. He sought a recount. Willett's victory came largely from his strong showings in populous Harris County, tarrant County, Dallas County, Bexar County, Gregg County, and Travis County, the most liberal county in Texas, and home of the state capital, Austin. Smith ran well in Brazos County, Tom Green County, Victoria County, and Potter County and in numerous smaller counties.