Shap Smith
Shapleigh Smith (b. December 16, 1965) is a former Democratic member of the Vermont House of Representatives, representing Lamoille-Washington-1 from 2003 to 2017. He also served as speaker of the House.
On August 11, 2015, Smith filed paperwork with the Vermont Secretary of State to run for governor of Vermont in 2016.[1] However, at the official filing deadline, he filed to run for lieutenant governor of Vermont instead.[2] He was defeated in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor on August 9, 2016.
Biography
A native of Lamoille County, Smith grew up on a sheep farm and maple syrup. He graduated from the University of Vermont and attended law school out of state. Smith was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 2002 and has served as the State Speaker of the House since 2009. He is also a private practice attorney at the law firm of
Smith lives in Lamoille County with his wife, Melissa, who is a physician, and their two children, Eli and Mia.[3][4]
Education
- B.A., University of Vermont (1987)
- J.D., Indiana University (1991)
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Rules |
| • Joint Rules |
| • Legislative Council |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Judicial Rules, Vice chair |
| • Rules |
| • Legislative Council |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Smith served on these committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Judicial Rules |
| • Legislative Council |
| • Rules |
| • Rules |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Smith served on these committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Legislative Council |
| • Rules |
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.
Elections
2016
Smith was initially a candidate for governor of Vermont in the 2016 election; however, he filed instead to run as a Democrat for lieutenant governor at the May 26 filing deadline.[1] He competed with state Rep. Kesha Ram Hinsdale and state Sen. David Zuckerman in the August 9 Democratic primary election.[2]
David Zuckerman defeated Shap Smith and Kesha Ram in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
| Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 David Zuckerman |
42.70% | 31,027 |
| Shap Smith | 36.56% | 26,569 |
| Kesha Ram | 16.70% | 12,133 |
| Write-in votes | 4.04% | 2,936 |
| Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting) | 72,665 | |
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||
Campaign finance
| Shap Smith Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Second quarter | July 15, 2016 | $30,012.54 | $122,423.36 | $(36,163.24) | $ | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $122,423.36 | $(36,163.24) | ||||||||
2014
Elections for the Vermont House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 12, 2014. Lamoille-Washington has two state representatives. Incumbent Shap Smith and Avram Patt were unopposed in the Democratic primary. Mickey Smith and Emily Lapan were unopposed in the Republican primary.[5][6][7][8] Patt and Shap Smith defeated Mickey Smith and Lapan in the general election.[9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Shap Smith Incumbent |
35.2% | 1,737 | |
| Democratic | Avram Patt |
23.8% | 1,172 | |
| Republican | Mickey Smith | 21.7% | 1,070 | |
| Republican | Emily B. Lapan | 19.3% | 951 | |
| Total Votes | 4,930 | |||
2012
Smith won re-election in the 2012 election for Vermont House of Representatives Lamoille-Washington. Smith was unopposed in the August 28 Democratic primary and won re-election in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Peter Peltz Incumbent |
35% | 2,177 | |
| Democratic | Shap Smith Incumbent |
43.4% | 2,699 | |
| Republican | Mickey Smith | 21.6% | 1,347 | |
| Total Votes | 6,223 | |||
2010
Shap Smith ran for re-election to the Lamoille-Washington 1 District in 2010. He and Peter Peltz (D) both won in the general election on November 2, 2010.[10]
| Vermont House of Representatives, Lamoille-Washington 1 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Shap Smith (D)
|
2,441 | |||
| Peter Peltz (D)
|
2,127 | |||
Campaign themes
2016
Smith's campaign website includes the following positions:[11]
- Increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020
- Expanding the Dr. Dynosaur program and supporting universal healthcare
- Investing in workforce training programs and supporting measures to attract small businesses to the state
- Affordable childcare and expanding access to early childhood education
- Protecting the state's waterways
- Mandating universal background checks for all gun sales
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 Vermont scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 4 through May 18. There was also a veto session June 21.
- Vermont Conservation Voters: 2017-2018 Environmental Scorecard
- Legislators are scored based on their voting records on environmental issues.
- Vermont Public Interest Research Group: 2017-2018 Legislative Scorecard
- Legislators are scored by VPIRG on bills related to public interest issues.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on pieces of legislation supported by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 5 through May 6.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 7 through May 16.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 7 to May 10.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 9 to May 14.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 3 to May 5.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 5 through mid May.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Smith and his wife, Melissa Volansky, have two children.[3]
See also
- Vermont State Legislature
- Vermont State Senate
- Vermont State Senate Committees
- Vermont Joint Committees
- Vermont state legislative districts
External links
- Vermont Legislature - Legislative Directory
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Official campaign website
- Smith's Facebook profile
- Smith's Twitter feed
- Smith's LinkedIn profile
- Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dave Gram, Burlington Free Press, "Shap Smith files to run for governor," August 13, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vermont Secretary of State, "Primary-qualified candidates," accused May 27, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shap Smith for Governor, "About Shap," accessed August 21, 2015
- ↑ Shap, "About Shap," accessed July 28, 2016
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Primary Election Candidate Listing," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Independent Candidates and Minor Party Candidates Nominated by Party Committee," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Major Party Nomination Candidate Listing," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Candidate Listing," June 13, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 General Election Candidate Listing," accessed October 11, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Vermont Secretary of State, "Election Results Search," accessed April 23, 2014
- ↑ Shap, "Issues," accessed July 28, 2016
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