Gary Smith Jr.
Gary Smith Jr. (Democratic Party) was a member of the Louisiana State Senate, representing District 19. He assumed office in 2012. He left office on January 8, 2024.
Smith (Democratic Party) won re-election to the Louisiana State Senate to represent District 19 outright in the primary on October 12, 2019, after the primary and general election were canceled.
Smith served in the Louisiana House of Representatives, representing District 56 from 2000 to 2012.
Biography
Smith's professional experience includes working as an attorney with Sole Piad, manager of Magnolia Holdings Incorporated, and Associate, Business Attorney, and Law Clerk for Tareza & Gelderman, Limited Liability Company.
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.
2023-2024
Smith was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Insurance Committee
- Judiciary B Committee, Chairman
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Transportation, Highways & Public Works Committee
- Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
2021-2022
Smith was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Insurance Committee
- Judiciary B Committee, Chair
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Transportation, Highways & Public Works Committee
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
- Technology and Cybersecurity Committee
2019-2020
Smith was assigned to the following committees:
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
- Senate Insurance Committee
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Judiciary B Committee, Chairman
- Transportation, Highways & Public Works Committee
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| Louisiana committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Insurance, Vice Chair |
| • Judiciary B |
| • Revenue & Fiscal Affairs |
| • Transportation, Highways & Public Works |
2012-2013
In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
- Insurance, Vice Chairman
- Judiciary B
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs
- Transportation, Highways & Public Works
- Joint Legislative Capital Outlay
2010-2011
In the 2010-2011 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
- Administration of Criminal Justice
- Appropriations
- Joint Legislative Budget Committee
- Capital Outlay
- Subcommittee on Business Development (Chair)
- Subcommittee on Public Safety and Corrections
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
2023
- See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2023
Gary Smith Jr. was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2019
See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2019
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Gary Smith Jr. (D) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
2015
- See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2015
Elections for the Louisiana State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on October 24, 2015, with a general election held in districts where necessary on November 21, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 10, 2015, at 4:30 p.m. CDT.[1]
Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. Incumbent Gary Smith, Jr. (D) was unopposed in the October 24 blanket primary.[2][3]
2011
- See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2011
Smith announced in early August that he was seeking the District 19 seat in the Louisiana State Senate. The seat was open because Sen. Joel Chaisson reached his term limit.[4] Smith defeated Garrett Monti (R) in the primary election on October 22, 2011. Because Louisiana uses a blanket primary system, a candidate can be declared the overall winner of the seat by garnering 50 percent +1 of the vote in the primary. However, if no candidate reaches this threshold, then a general election would have taken place on November 19, 2011 between the top-two vote getters.[5]
| Louisiana State Senate District 19 Blanket Primary, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Gary Smith, Jr. |
59.5% | 16,501 | |
| Republican | Garrett Monti | 40.5% | 11,215 | |
| Total Votes | 27,716 | |||
Races to watch
On September 12, 2011, Bayou Buzz issued a report on the top five Louisiana Senate races to watch. The race between Smith and Monti was ranked as number 1. While Smith received the support of retiring Senate President Joel Chaisson and was initially considered to be a clear replacement, the report cited Monti as gaining ground because of Smith's status as an insider.[6]
2007
In 2007, Smith, Jr. was re-elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He defeated Ram G. Ramachandran.[7]
| Louisiana House of Representatives General Election, District 56 (2007) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Gary Smith, Jr. (D)
|
8,591 | |||
| Ram G. Ramachandran (D) | 6,316 | |||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Gary Smith Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
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 Louisiana scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023
In 2023, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 10 to June 8.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 14 to June 6.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 12 to June 10.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 9 to June 1. The session was suspended from March 31 through May 4. A special session convened from June 1 to June 30 and from September 28 to October 23.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 through June 6.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through May 18.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 10 through June 8. The legislature held its first special session from February 13 to February 22. The legislature held its second special session from June 8 to June 16.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 14 through June 6. A special session was held from February 14 to March 9 to address the state's budget gap. A second special session was held from June 6 to June 23.
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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 Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 13 through June 11.
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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 Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 10 through June 3.
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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 Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 to June 6.
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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 Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through June 4.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Smith is a member of the Lions Club, 29th Judicial District Court Bar Association, Norco Civic Association, First Baptist Church of Norco, American Bar Association, Ducks Unlimited, Federal Bar Association, Louisiana Bar Association, and the New Orleans Bar Association.[11]
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Houma Today, "St. Charles lawmaker to run for state Senate," August 4, 2011
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," October 22, 2011
- ↑ Bayou Buzz, "Vitter, Jindal Ready To Hammer And Louisiana Legislative Races To Watch," September 12, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ Official Louisiana House of Representatives 2007 General Election Results
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2014 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2013 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2012 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Smith
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Louisiana State Senate District 19 2012-2024 |
Succeeded by Gregory Miller (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Louisiana House of Representatives 2000-2012 |
Succeeded by - |
