Preston Smith (Georgia)
Preston Smith was a Republican member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 52 from 2003 to 2010. On April 26, 2010, he announced his candidacy for the statewide office of attorney general, the seat that was vacated by Democrat Thurbert E. Baker, who ran for governor.[1] He lost the nomination to Samuel S. Olens.
Biography
Smith earned his B.S. in Management and Corporate Communications from Baylor University and his J.D. from the University of Georgia. His professional experience includes working as Minister of Students for West Rome Baptist Church, Co-Founder/Director/Vice President of Sentinel Communications, Incorporated, Host of the Preston Smith Live Radio Talk Show, Adjunct Instructor for Floyd College and attorney for Cox, Byington, Corwing, Niedrach, Atkins, Smith and Perkins, Professional Company.
Committee assignments
State Senator Smith served on the following legislative committees:
- Appropriations (Member)
- Health and Human Services (Member)
- Judiciary (Member)
- Reapportionment and Redistricting (Member)
- Rules (Member)
Elections
2010
- See also: Georgia Attorney General election, 2010
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary[2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  Samuel S. Olens
|
39.9%[3] | |
| Republican Party | Preston Smith | 30.6% | |
| Republican Party | Max Wood | 29.5% | |
| Total Votes | 576,492 | ||
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary Run-Off[4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | Samuel S. Olens
|
58.9% | |
| Republican Party | Preston Smith | 41.1% | |
| Total Votes | 508,853 | ||
2008
- 2008 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - Republican Primary and General Election[5][6]
- Preston Smith ran unopposed in both contests
2006
- 2006 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - Republican Primary[7]
- Preston Smith ran unopposed
| 2006 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - General Election[8] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
 Preson Smith (R)
|
63.6% | |||
| Jerry Wood (D) | 36.4% | |||
| Total votes | 32,470 | |||
2004
- 2004 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - Republican Primary[9]
- Preston Smith ran unopposed
| 2004 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - General Election[10] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Preson Smith (R)
|
63.9% | |||
| George Pullen (D) | 36.1% | |||
| Total votes | 50,068 | |||
2002
| 2002 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - Republican Primary[11] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Preson Smith (R)
|
63.5% | |||
| Bill Kelley (R) | 36.5% | |||
| Total votes | 6,812 | |||
| 2002 Race for Georgia State Senate, District 52 - General Election[12] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Preson Smith (R)
|
54.2% | |||
| Dick Marable (D) | 45.8% | |||
| Total votes | 31,286 | |||
Campaign finance summary
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Noteworthy events
Chairmanship stripped
In January 2010, in an effort to help lower the deficit that the state would incur in the coming year, Republican Governor Sonny Perdue called for a "hospital provider fee" in his 2010 budget proposal presented to both houses of the Georgia General Assembly.[13] This fee would place a 1.6 percent tax on "net patient revenue," the amount of adjustments and discounts given to certain health care plans and the government, which are taken out a patient's hospital bill. The governor's proposal suggested that the tax would generate $297.8 million for the fiscal year, which "would [then] allow the state to draw down federal money to support Medicaid at a ratio of three federal dollars for every one in state."[14]
Opponents of the proposal argued that while revenue generated by the "fee" would unquestionably flow to certain health care providers, it would also be diverted from others. Specifically, "hospitals, doctors, dentists and insurance companies that serve a higher percentage of Medicaid patients would benefit" from the tax.[14] That, however, would apply to only 39 hospitals across the state, with another 39 breaking even. The area of concern was the 84 hospitals that would lose money as a result of this fee. The one hospital hurt the most by this was the Atlanta trauma facility Grady Memorial Hospital, which stood to lose $12.5 million a year. Don Faulk, President and CEO of the Medical Center of Central Georgia, argued that the tax unfairly targeted individuals who had taken the responsibility to purchase health insurance.
Six days after House Bill 307 (HB 307), which imposed the new fee on hospitals, had passed through the Georgia State House of Representatives on Friday, March 26, 2010, it came before the State Senate for a vote. Smith voted against the measure, noting that he had "promised his constituents that he would never raise taxes."[15] Regardless, the bill passed the upper house later that evening by a margin of 31 to 15.[16]
Not long after the State Senate adopted the measure, Smith was ousted from his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Speaking from the Senate well on Monday, April 12, the Georgia State Senator said that his being stripped of his position was "retribution for my refusal to go along with the lieutenant governor and the rest of the Senate Republicans and vote for a tax increase."[15] He then went on to say that Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle were using the State Senate Majority Leader and the Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams to call for a motion for a "caucus position" and to threaten the chairmanships of those who refused to play along.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for Preston + Smith + Georgia + Senate
See also
- Georgia State Legislature
- Georgia State Senate
- Georgia Senate Committees
- Georgia state legislative districts
- Attorney General of Georgia
- Georgia Attorney General election, 2010
External links
- Preston Smith's Twitter account
- State Senate Campaign contributions: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008
- Project Vote Smart - Preston W. Smith biography
- Electpreston.com 2010 Campaign donor
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine was used to recall this version of the website from July 5, 2010.
Footnotes
- ↑ Rome News-Tribune, "Preston Smith to seek attorney general seat, could rock other races" 26 April, 2010
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2010 Republican Attorney General Primary Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Even though Sam Olens received the most votes, he failed to receive over fifty percent of those votes required by Georgia state law. A runoff election between the top two vote recipients, therefore, was required to decide who went on to the general election.
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2010 Republican Attorney General Primary Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2008 Primary Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2006 Primary Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2006 General Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2004 Primary Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2004 General Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2002 Primary Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2002 General Election Results," accessed December 31, 2014
- ↑ The Chattanooga Times Free Press, "'Bed tax' eyed to plug Georgia Medicaid hole" 22 Jan. 2010
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Telegraph, "Ga. lawmakers try to avoid hospital tax" 26 Jan. 2010
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Preston Smith out as judiciary chair, Seabaugh gives up Whip over hospital vote" 12 April, 2010
- ↑ Georgia General Assembly - HB 307
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Georgia Senate - District 52 2003–2011 |
Succeeded by Barry Loudermilk |
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