Adam Smith

Adam Smith
U.S. House, Washington, District 9
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 1997-present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position	16
Party	Democratic
Predecessor	Randy Tate (R)
Compensation
Base salary	$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 5, 1996
Next election	November 4, 2014
Campaign $	$6,144,624
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Washington State Senate
1991-1996
Education
High school	Tyee High School
Bachelor's	Fordham University
J.D.	University of Washington
Personal
Birthday	June 15, 1965
Place of birth	Washington, D.C.
Profession	Attorney
Net worth	$764,005
Religion	Episcopalian
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

David Adam Smith (b. June 15, 1965) is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Washington. Smith represents Washington's 9th congressional district and was first elected to the House in 1996. He won re-election in 2012.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Smith is a "rank-and-file Democrat".

Biography

Smith was born in Washington, D.C. He earned his B.A. from Fordham University in 1987, and his J.D. from the University of Washington in 1990.

Career

• 1997-Present: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington's 9th congressional district
• 1991-1996: Washington State Senate
• 1993-1995: City prosecutor, Seattle, Washington

After earning his J.D., Smith went into private practice.

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Smith serves on the following committees:

• Armed Services Committee Ranking member

2011-12

Smith was a member of the following House committee:

• Armed Services Committee Ranking member

Issues

Legalizing propaganda

In May 2012, Rep. Smith, along with Rep. Mac Thornberry, sponsored an amendment to a defense authorization bill that would negate two previous acts in order to legalize the use of propaganda on Americans. Thornberry stated that the current restriction “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way.” Critics said the move was done under the radar and that there are ways to modernize without getting rid of these safeguards.

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Smith voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 16 Democrats that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.

Elections

2012

See also: Washington's 9th congressional district elections, 2012

Smith won re-election in 2012. He and James Postma (R) advanced past the August 7, 2012, blanket primary, defeating Dave Christie (D), Tom Cramer (D), and John Orlinski (R). They faced off in the general election on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, Washington, District 9 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Adam Smith Incumbent	71.6%	192,034
	Republican	Jim Postma	28.4%	76,105
Total Votes				268,139
Source: Washington Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Adam Smith, click [show] to expand the section.

2010 On November 2, 2010, Adam Smith won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Richard (Dick) Muri (R) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith incumbent 54.9% 123,743      Republican Richard (Dick) Muri 45.1% 101,851 Total Votes 225,594 2008 On November 4, 2008, Adam Smith won re-election to the United States House. He defeated James Postma in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith incumbent 65.4% 176,295      Republican James Postma 34.6% 93,080 Total Votes 269,375 2006 On November 7, 2006, Adam Smith won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Steven C. Cofchin (R) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic 119038 incumbent 65.7% 119,038      Republican 62082 34.3% 62,082 Total Votes 181,120 2004 On November 2, 2004, Adam Smith won to the United States House. He defeated Paul J. Lord (R) and Robert F. Losey (G) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith incumbent 63.3% 162,433      Republican Paul J. Lord 34.4% 88,304      Green Robert F. Losey 2.3% 5,934 Total Votes 256,671 2002 On November 5, 2002, Adam Smith won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Sarah Casada (R) and J. Mills (L) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith incumbent 58.5% 95,805      Republican Sarah Casada 38.6% 63,146      Libertarian J. Mills 2.9% 4,759 Total Votes 163,710 2000 On November 7, 2000, Adam Smith won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Chris Vance (R) and Jonathan V. Wright (L) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 2000 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith incumbent 61.7% 135,452      Republican Chris Vance 35% 76,766      Libertarian Jonathan V. Wright 3.4% 7,405 Total Votes 219,623 1998 On November 3, 1998, Adam Smith won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ron Taber (R) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 1998 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith incumbent 64.7% 111,948      Republican Rob Taber 35.3% 61,108 Total Votes 173,056 1996 On November 5, 1996, Adam Smith won election to the United States House. He defeated Randy Tate (R) and David Gruenstein (Natural Law) in the general election. U.S. House, Washington District 9 General Election, 1996 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Adam Smith 50.1% 105,236      Republican Randy Tate 47.3% 99,199      Natural Law David Gruenstein 2.6% 5,432 Total Votes 209,867

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Smith is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Smith raised a total of $6,144,624 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 5, 2013.

Adam Smith's Campaign Contribution History
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2012	US House (Washington, District 9)		$1,145,880
2010	US House (Washington, District 9)		$948,533
2008	US House (Washington, District 9)		$648,477
2006	US House (Washington, District 9)		$739,885
2004	US House (Washington, District 9)		$763,390
2002	US House (Washington, District 9)		$820,573
2000	US House (Washington, District 9)		$1,077,886
Grand Total Raised			$6,144,624

2012

Breakdown of the source of Smith's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Smith won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that re-election cycle, Smith's campaign committee raised a total of $1,145,880 and spent $924,161 .

U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, 9th District, 2012 - Adam Smith Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,145,880
Total Spent	$924,161
Total Raised by Election Runner-up	$1,818
Total Spent by Election Runner-up	$6,313
Top contributors to Adam Smith's campaign committee
Northrop Grumman	$29,500
Boeing Co	$25,000
Microsoft Corp	$16,750
Concur Inc	$13,000
Denny Miller Assoc	$13,000
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Defense Aerospace	$84,000
Lobbyists	$68,410
Computers/Internet	$66,750
Lawyers/Law Firms	$65,300
Misc Defense	$64,500

2010

Breakdown of the source of Smith's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Smith won re-election to the U.S. House in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Smith's campaign committee raised a total of $948,533 and spent $1,355,512.

U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, 9th District, 2010 - Adam Smith Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$948,533
Total Spent	$1,355,512
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$240,210
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$240,210
Top contributors to Adam Smith's campaign committee
Denny Miller Assoc	$15,800
Microsoft Corp	$13,750
Boeing Co	$12,250
Weyerhaeuser Co	$11,000
Lockheed Martin	$10,250
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Lobbyists	$77,521
Lawyers/Law Firms	$59,393
Defense Aerospace	$55,000
Leadership PACs	$43,000
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products	$37,000

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Smith missed 692 of 11,065 roll call votes from January 1997 to April 2013. This amounts to 6.3%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of April 2013.

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Smith paid his congressional staff a total of $1,036,527 in 2011. Overall, Washington ranks 18th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Smith's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $433,010 and $1,095,000. That averages to $764,005, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2011 of $5,107,874. His average net worth increased by 87.48% from 2010.

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Smith's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $190,015 to $625,000. That averages to $407,507.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.

National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Smith was 1 of 2 members who ranked 135th in the liberal rankings in 2012.

2011

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Smith ranked 155th in the liberal rankings.

Political positions

Percentage voting with party

November 2011

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Smith voted with the Democratic Party 88.6% of the time, which ranked 158 among the 192 House Democratic members in November 2011.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Adam + Smith + Washington + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Adam Smith News Feed

• Rep. Adam Smith: GOP obsessed with Benghazi - Washington Times
• 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' At Cannes: Sequel - Huffington Post - Huffington Post
• Summer movie preview: Heroes, hangovers and zombies will heat up multiplexes - Kansas.com
• Sen. Marco Rubio, in Tampa, says controversies have 'shaken' him - Tampabay.com (blog)
• CAPAC Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month - The Rafu Shimpo
• Smithsburg still thriving after 200 years - The Herald-Mail
• 'Doin' it in the Park' Documentary Looks At NYC's Playground Basketball - Huffington Post
• Several promising efforts included among 2013's summer movies - LubbockOnline.com
• Events in Connecticut - New York Times
• Petraeus Email Objected to Benghazi Talking Points - TIME

Personal

Smith and his wife, Sara Bickle-Eldridge, have two children.

External links

• Official House website
• Official campaign website

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • Project Vote Smart
  • CongressMerge
• Financial:
  • FEC
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • LegiStorm.com
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post

• Official Youtube channel

References

Political offices
Preceded by Randy Tate	U.S. House of Representatives - Washington, District 9 1997-Present	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Washington State Senate 1991-1996	Succeeded by '