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James Smith Jr.
James Smith Jr. (Democratic Party) was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 72. He assumed office in 1996. He left office on June 21, 2018.
Smith (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of South Carolina. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
He ran on a joint ticket with the lieutenant gubernatorial nominee, Mandy Powers Norrell (D).
Smith is a former Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, representing District 72 from 1996 to 2018.
Biography
Smith earned his B.A. and J.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1990 and 1995, respectively. Smith was legislative aide/campaign director for state Representative Timothy Rogers from 1987 to 1994. Smith worked as an attorney/associate of Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, Limited Liability Partnership from 1995 to 1996. He worked for James E. Smith, Jr, PA from 1996 to 2000. Smith also worked as an attorney shareholder for Smith Ellis and Stuckey, PA, starting in 2000. From 1998 to 2003, he served in the South Carolina Army National Guard as a captain. He previously served in the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army Reserve as a First Lieutenant. He also served in the South Carolina Army National Guard as a Sergeant. Following the events of September 11, 2001, Smith resigned from the National Guard and enlisted as a combat soldier, serving in Afghanistan. He later returned to the South Carolina Army National Guard.[1]
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| South Carolina committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Judiciary, Vice chair |
| • Legislative Oversight |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| South Carolina committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Judiciary, First Vice Chair |
| • Legislative Oversight |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| South Carolina committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Judiciary, Vice Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Smith did not serve on any committees.
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| South Carolina committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Ethics |
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
2018
General election
General election for Governor of South Carolina
Incumbent Henry McMaster defeated James Smith Jr. in the general election for Governor of South Carolina on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Henry McMaster (R) | 54.0 | 921,342 |
 | James Smith Jr. (D) | 45.9 | 784,182 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2,045 | ||
| Total votes: 1,707,569 | |||
 = 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. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Martin Barry (American Party)
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Governor of South Carolina
Incumbent Henry McMaster defeated John Warren in the Republican primary runoff for Governor of South Carolina on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Henry McMaster | 53.6 | 184,286 |
| John Warren | 46.4 | 159,349 | ||
| Total votes: 343,635 | |||
| = 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 South Carolina
James Smith Jr. defeated Marguerite Willis and Phil Noble in the Democratic primary for Governor of South Carolina on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Smith Jr. | 61.8 | 148,633 |
 | Marguerite Willis | 27.5 | 66,248 | |
 | Phil Noble | 10.6 | 25,587 | |
| Total votes: 240,468 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of South Carolina
Incumbent Henry McMaster and John Warren advanced to a runoff. They defeated Catherine Templeton, Kevin Bryant, and John McGill in the Republican primary for Governor of South Carolina on June 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Henry McMaster | 42.3 | 155,723 |
| ✔ | John Warren | 27.8 | 102,390 | |
 | Catherine Templeton | 21.4 | 78,705 | |
 | Kevin Bryant | 6.7 | 24,790 | |
 | John McGill | 1.7 | 6,375 | |
| Total votes: 367,983 | |||
| = 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
Elections for the South Carolina House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The primary runoff election was held on June 28, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 30, 2016.
Incumbent James Smith Jr. ran unopposed in the South Carolina House of Representatives District 72 general election.[2][3]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 72 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  James Smith, Jr. Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 8,491 | |
| Total Votes | 8,491 | |||
| Source: South Carolina State Election Commission | ||||
Incumbent James Smith Jr. ran unopposed in the South Carolina House of Representatives District 72 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 72 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | James Smith, Jr. Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for all 124 seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 10, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2014. Incumbent James Smith Jr. ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[6][7][8]
2012
Smith ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on June 12, as well as the general election on November 6.[9]
2010
Smith ran unopposed in the June 8 Democratic primary for District 72 of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Smith won, after running unopposed, in the general election on November 2.[10]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 72 (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| James Smith, Jr. (D)
|
6,552 | 98.70% | ||
| Write-In | 86 | 1.30% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Smith won re-election, after running unopposed, to the South Carolina House of Representatives with 10,028 votes, representing District 72.
Smith raised $62,914 for his campaign.[11]
| South Carolina House of Representatives, District 72 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| James Smith, Jr. (D)
|
10,028 | |||
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 South Carolina scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2018
In 2018, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 10.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and conservation issues.
- Legislators are scored on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 10 through May 11.
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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 South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 12 through June 2.
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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 South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 13 through June 4.
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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 South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 14 through June 6.
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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 South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 8 to June 20.
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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 South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 11 through June 7.
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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 South Carolina State Legislature was in session from January 11 through June 2. On June 2, 2011, Governor Nikki Haley (R) attempted to call the legislature into an "emergency" special session to begin on June 7 to create the new South Carolina Department of Administration. A lawsuit was filed by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell (R), in which he contended that Haley's call for a special session was unconstitutional, and that it violated the state Constitution's requirement of separation of powers among the governor, legislature and courts.[12] On June 6, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled 3-2 against Governor Haley, stating that her order violated the Legislature's ability to set its calendar and agenda. The legislature met in a special redistricting session from June 14 - July 1.[13] The legislature re-convened July 26.[14]
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The Palmetto Liberty PAC Scorecard
The Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, a conservative, pro-limited government think tank in South Carolina, releases its scorecard for South Carolina representatives and senators once a year. The scorecard gives each legislator a score based on how he or she voted in the two-year legislative term prior to the election on specific issues that the Palametto Liberty PAC thinks are anti-limited government. "Most of the votes shown on the score card are votes that we lost. Now we can identify the Legislators that caused us to lose these votes. These Legislators are the ones who need to be replaced if we are to achieve the vision of having the most free state in the nation."[15]
2012
James E. Smith, Jr. received a score of 20% in the 2012 scorecard, ranking 72nd out of all 124 South Carolina House of Representatives members.[16] His score was followed by representatives Lawrence Kit Spires (20%), McLain Toole (20%), Brian White (20%).[17]
See also
- Governor of South Carolina
- South Carolina gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018
- South Carolina House of Representatives Committees
- South Carolina Joint Committees
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions via OpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑ Email submission to Ballotpedia, March 30, 2018
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Candidate listing for the 11/8/2016 statewide general election," accessed August 26, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2016 Statewide General Election," accessed November 28, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 14, 2016
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2014 Election Information," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ South Carolina State Election Commission, "2012 Candidates," accessed April 24, 2012
- ↑ www.enr-scvotes.org, "2010 General Election Results," accessed May 1, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 campaign contributions," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ The State, "High court rules against Haley," June 6, 2011
- ↑ The Sun News, "S.C. House to have special session in June," May 6, 2011
- ↑ The Island Packet, "S.C. Senate OKs new congressional districted anchored in Beaufort County," June 29, 2011
- ↑ The Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "Voting Records," accessed April 11, 2014
- ↑ Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "South Carolina Senate Score Card 2012," accessed April 11, 2014
- ↑ Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee, "South Carolina Senate Score Card 2012," accessed May 15, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
South Carolina House of Representatives District 72 1996–2018 |
Succeeded by Seth Rose (D) |
