Malcolm Smith
Malcolm A. Smith (b. August 9, 1956) is a former Democratic member of the New York State Senate, representing District 14 from a special election in March 2000 to January 1, 2015. He was defeated in the Democratic primary on September 9, 2014, by Leroy Comrie (D). He previously served as president pro tempore, as minority leader in 2009, and later as temporary president.
Biography
Smith earned his B.S. in business administration from Fordham University in 1978 and his M.B.A. in finance/operations management from Adelphi University. He also earned his negotiations certificate from Harvard Law School and his "Strategies for Governing in an Economic Crisis" certificate from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
His professional experience includes working as a city hall assistant for former Mayor Edward I. Koch, as a chief aide for former city council member Archie Spigner, as a member of the national advance staff for former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, and as a developer for the Challenge to Minority Banks Program. Smith then worked as procurement manager for the New York City Office of Economic Development from 1985 to 1986 and as district manager for Congressman Floyd H. Flake from 1986 to 1991. In 1991, he founded the Smith Development Corporation. He served as president of the Smith Darmon Group-Developers from 1991 to 1999.[1]
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| New York committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Codes |
| • Education |
| • Environmental Conservation |
| • Housing, Construction and Community Development |
| • Judiciary |
| • Social Services, Chair |
| • Transportation |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Smith served on these committees:
| New York committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Banks |
| • Health |
| • Insurance |
| • Labor |
| • Rules |
| • Transportation |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Smith served on these committees:
| New York committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Rules |
Elections
2014
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the New York State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election took place November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 10, 2014. Leroy Comrie defeated incumbent Malcolm Smith and Munir Avery in the Democratic primary. Comrie also ran on the Working Families Party ticket. Comrie was unchallenged in the general election.[2][3][4]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
 Leroy Comrie |
69% | 10,229 |
| Malcolm Smith Incumbent | 19.3% | 2,865 |
| Munir Avery | 11.7% | 1,738 |
| Total Votes | 14,832 | |
2012
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2012
Smith ran in the 2012 election for New York State Senate District 14. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2012. He also ran on the Working Families Party ticket. Smith was unchallenged in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Malcolm Smith Incumbent |
100% | 86,417 | |
| Total Votes | 86,417 | |||
2010
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2010
Smith ran unopposed in the September 14 primary. He defeated Samuel Benoit (R) in the general election.[8][9] Smith ran as a member of the Democratic and Independence parties.
| New York State Senate, General Election Results, District 14 (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Malcolm Smith (D)
|
43,356 | |||
| Samuel Benoit (R) | 7,798 | |||
| Everly Brown (Conservative) | 2,033 | |||
2008
- See also: New York State Senate elections, 2008
On November 4, 2008, Malcolm Smith ran unopposed and won the election for New York State Senate, District 14 with 72,885 votes.[10][11]
Smith raised $1,730,793 for his campaign.[12]
| New York State Senate, District 14 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Malcolm Smith (D)
|
72,885 | |||
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 New York scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2014
In 2014, the 200th New York State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 8 to June 19, 2014.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on legislation concerning businesses, jobs, and the economy.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- EPL/Environmental Advocates: 2014 Environmental Scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business in New York: 2013-2014 Voting Record
- Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues.
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 200th New York State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 9 to December 31.
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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 199th New York State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 4 to June 22, 2012.
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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 199th New York State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 5 to June 20, 2011.
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Endorsements
2012
In 2012, Smith’s endorsements included the following:[13]
- 32BJ/SEIU
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Smith and his wife, Michele Lisby, have two children.
Noteworthy events
Subpoenaed records
During the first week of February 2010, federal prosecutors served a subpoena to Smith which broadly sought information dealing with grants to organizations in his district. They were specifically interested in Smith's ties to the group New Direction. New Direction, set up in 2000, worked to encourage development in southeast Queens.
New Direction had requested a total of $111,500 from Smith's office from 2000 to 2010, and had received $56,000 over that time period. Prosecutors looked into ties Smith had with several of the group's board members. Smith declined to comment.[14]
Charged with bribe, wire fraud and extortion
On April 2, 2013, Smith, a Republican city council member from Queens and four others were arrested by the FBI in an alleged plot to bribe Smith onto the New York City mayoral ballot. The charges against Smith included conspiracy to bribe, wire fraud and extortion. Smith expressed interest in running in the Republican primary for mayor, but as a registered Democrat, he required three of the five Republican county commissioners' approval. Two of those county commissioners were among the other four arrested with Smith.[15]
On June 17, 2014, Judge Kenneth M. Karas of United States District Court granted Smith and one of his two co-defendants a mistrial. The judge granted the mistrial because "federal prosecutors had failed to turn over promptly to the defense more than 70 hours of wiretapped conversations, about a third of them in Yiddish, and translating and digesting them would require jurors to serve longer than some could manage."[16] A new trial was scheduled for January 2015, which allowed Smith to run for re-election.[16] He was defeated in his re-election bid by Leroy Comrie (D). Smith was convicted in February 2015 on four charges, including bribery conspiracy, wire fraud, use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion.[17]
On July 15, 2015, Smith was sentenced to seven years in prison.[18]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Malcolm + Smith + New York + Senate"
See also
- New York State Senate
- Senate Committees
- New York State Legislature
- New York state legislative districts
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2000
Footnotes
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Malcolm Smith's Biography," accessed October 28, 2023
- ↑ New York Board of Elections, "Certification for the September 9, 2014, State Primary Election," accessed December 17, 2014
- ↑ New York Board of Elections, "Primary results for September 9, 2014," accessed October 1, 2014
- ↑ New York Board of Elections, "NYS Board of Elections Senate Election Returns November 4, 2014," accessed December 17, 2014
- ↑ State of New York, State Board of Elections, "Candidate List for the September 13, 2012, State Primary Election," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ State of New York, State Board of Elections, "Official September 13, 2012, Primary Results," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ State of New York, State Board of Elections, "Official Senate Election Returns Nov. 6, 2012," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "NY state legislative election results," accessed February 11, 2014
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Official Primary results from September 14, 2010," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Official Primary results from September 9, 2008," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Official Senate Election Returns November 4, 2008," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Report on Malcolm's 2008 campaign contributions," accessed July 31, 2014
- ↑ New York Daily News, "32BJ/SEIU Endorses For State Senate, Assembly," August 1, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Subpoena Seeks Senator’s Records on Funds He Directed to Community Groups," February 11, 2010
- ↑ nbcnewyork.com, "State Senator, City Councilman Arrested in Alleged Mayoral Ballot Bribery Scheme," April 2, 2013
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 NY Times, "Mistrial Is Declared in Malcolm Smith Corruption Trial," accessed August 18, 2014
- ↑ NBC New York, "Former State Sen. Malcolm Smith Found Guilty in Bribe Scheme," February 5, 2015
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Former NY State Sen. Malcolm Smith Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison," accessed July 17, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
New York State Senate District 14 2000–January 1, 2015 |
Succeeded by Leroy Comrie (D) |
