Ras Smith
Ras Smith (Democratic Party) was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing District 62. He assumed office on January 1, 2017. He left office on January 1, 2023.
Smith (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Iowa. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on June 7, 2022.
Biography
Smith's career experience includes working as the Iowa consultant for the nonprofit organization Communities in Schools. Smith has been a youth mentor, participated in faith-based outreach, and served as a volunteer football coach for East High School. Smith graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a bachelor’s in exercise science and a master’s degree in youth and human services.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Smith was assigned to the following committees:
- House Agriculture Committee
- House Education Committee, Ranking member
- Information Technology Committee (decommissioned)
- Natural Resources Committee
2019-2020
Smith was assigned to the following committees:
- House Agriculture Committee
- House Education Committee, Ranking Member
- House Transportation Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Iowa committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Judiciary |
| • Transportation |
Elections
2022
Governor
See also: Iowa gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of Iowa
Incumbent Kim Reynolds defeated Deidre DeJear and Rick Stewart in the general election for Governor of Iowa on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kim Reynolds (R) | 58.0 | 709,198 |
 | Deidre DeJear (D) | 39.5 | 482,950 | |
 | Rick Stewart (L)  | 2.4 | 28,998 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 718 | ||
| Total votes: 1,221,864 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Iowa
Deidre DeJear advanced from the Democratic primary for Governor of Iowa on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Deidre DeJear | 99.5 | 145,555 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 801 | ||
| Total votes: 146,356 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ras Smith (D)
- Joshua Kuhn-McRoberts (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Iowa
Incumbent Kim Reynolds advanced from the Republican primary for Governor of Iowa on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kim Reynolds | 99.0 | 185,293 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.0 | 1,808 | ||
| Total votes: 187,101 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
State House
Ras Smith did not file to run for re-election.
2020
See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Iowa House of Representatives District 62
Incumbent Ras Smith won election in the general election for Iowa House of Representatives District 62 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ras Smith (D) | 97.9 | 8,801 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.1 | 192 | ||
| Total votes: 8,993 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 62
Incumbent Ras Smith advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 62 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ras Smith | 99.4 | 2,356 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 14 | ||
| Total votes: 2,370 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Iowa House of Representatives District 62
Incumbent Ras Smith won election in the general election for Iowa House of Representatives District 62 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ras Smith (D) | 97.4 | 7,005 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.6 | 189 | ||
| Total votes: 7,194 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 62
Incumbent Ras Smith advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 62 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ras Smith | 100.0 | 1,210 |
| Total votes: 1,210 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
| Obama endorsement |
|---|
|
| During the 2016 election cycle Smith was one of the candidates endorsed by President Barack Obama |
Full list of Obama's 2016 endorsements |
Elections for the Iowa House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 18, 2016. Incumbent Deborah Berry (D) did not seek re-election.
Ras Smith defeated Todd Obadal and John Patterson in the Iowa House of Representatives District 62 general election.[2][3]
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 62 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Ras Smith |
63.15% | 7,113 | |
| Republican | Todd Obadal | 29.78% | 3,354 | |
| Unaffiliated | John Patterson | 7.08% | 797 | |
| Total Votes | 11,264 | |||
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State | ||||
Ras Smith ran unopposed in the Iowa House of Representatives District 62 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 62 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Ras Smith (unopposed) | |
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ras Smith did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Ras Smith did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Smith's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[6]
| “ |
Youth positive development and success: Devising and implementing a framework for youth that is engaging, promotes excellence, and infrastructure that assist youth in becoming successful adults by:
Educated and globally competitive Iowans: Provide quality education for all Iowans by:
Security, safety, well-being and equity: Ensure security in our homes and equity in the justices system by:
|
” |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Iowa scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 24.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2021, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 19.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2020, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 13 to June 14. The session was suspended from March 16 through June 3.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2019, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 27.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2018, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 5.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2017, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 9 through April 22.
|
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Iowa House Democrats, “Representative Ras Smith” accessed December 13, 2019
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "General Candidate List, 2016," accessed August 24, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Canvass Summary," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing by Office," March 21, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Canvass Summary," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Ras Smith 62, "Platform issues," accessed October 6, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Iowa House of Representatives District 62 2017-2023 |
Succeeded by Jerome Amos Jr. (D) |
 |
State of Iowa Des Moines (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
