Robert Smith (California congressional candidate)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Robert Smith

No party preference

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Chapman University

Other

University of the Potomac

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1997 - 2009

Personal

Birthplace

Boston, Mass.

Profession

Director of operations

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Robert Smith (No party preference) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 3rd Congressional District. He lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.

Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Robert Smith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He served in the U.S. Army from 1997 to 2009. He earned a bachelor's degree from Chapman University, graduated from the University of the Potomac, and graduated from the Project Management Institute. His career experience includes working as a director of operations.

Smith has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Veterans of Foreign Wars
• American Legion
• Project Management Institute
• 173rd Airborne Brigade Association

Elections

2024

See also: California's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024

California's 3rd Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 3

Incumbent Kevin Kiley defeated Jessica Morse in the general election for U.S. House California District 3 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kevin Kiley (R)	55.5	234,246
		Jessica Morse (D)	44.5	188,067

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 422,313
= 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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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 3

Incumbent Kevin Kiley and Jessica Morse defeated Robert Smith in the primary for U.S. House California District 3 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kevin Kiley (R)	55.9	137,397
✔		Jessica Morse (D)	42.1	103,443
		Robert Smith (No party preference)	2.0	5,007

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 245,847
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Douglas Huhn (D)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Smith in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Robert Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Smith's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in a lower to middle-class blue-collar family in Northern California. My father, a veteran and postal worker, my mother a judicial clerk for the California Superior Court. Although we didn't have much, I had a normal childhood, played football, wrestled, was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, and started working jobs at 14 years old. As an adult I am a medically retired Senior Non-Commissioned Officer and veteran of the United States Army. I served three direct action combat tours during the GWOT campaigns, one in Iraqi and two in Afghanistan. I am the recipient of the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, the Combat Infantryman's Badge and one Combat Jump Star on my parachutist wings, received for actions during those combat rotations. Upon my retirement I started a career supporting the U.S. Department of States Diplomatic Security Programs. During these periods as a Director, I led and managed large scale and sensitive programs in the protection of our Chief of Mission facilities, embassies and diplomats operating in high threat areas throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Simultaneously I started a small security company as the Managing Director with two of my U.S. Army brothers. This company operated throughout the Bay Area all the way up the I-80 corridor to Sacramento. We provided security services to County & City Governments, VA facilities, property management companies, retailers, and private schools. I am married with 6 great kids.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I am running for Congress because I believe in our Constitutional Republic. I have a relentless love of country, our people and strong history of service and sacrifice to our nation. California is my home, and I want to fight for it and our people. We are a beautiful State with so much to offer. I am not a career politician, nor do I think politics should be a career. I believe I can relate to many Californians due to my simple roots, my own struggles and my own experiences. I bring a unique background for the 3rd District given those experiences.
• With so much political hostility today, it seems there is more polarization than in the past. We need to bring common sense, trust and confidence into our political sphere, to include respect, and honesty. We must reduce the influence of major doners, lobbyists, corporations, and special interest groups as well as the fringe elements of the far left and right. We need moderation back sticking to supporting what Californian’s and Americans are really concerned with. The political elites need to know that Californians and Americans have had enough.
• I am a moderate, center-right. The core components of my beliefs are in support of our Constitutional Republic, limitations of government and individual rights. I believe that America is the "city on the hill", as a country, I believe in American values and that as a people we are exceptional, innovative, optimistic, with a strong fighting spirit and throughout our success and failures we continually strive to be a more perfect union. I support policies that will benefit the constituents of California's 3rd District and our great nation.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

(The Economy) - Many Californians are suffering, feeling worried and hopeless. Our economy is in shambles, the American Dream is on life support. With high high costs on everyday items, wages stagnation & taxes. Many Californians are living paycheck to paycheck, sacrificing priorities to just make it day to day. (Defense) – I do not support endless proxy wars and sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to these nations that are unaccountable to the American people. (Crime) - I have a firm stance on crime, we need to bring safety and security back within many of our communities. We have let the criminals run without consequence in California long enough. There should be a zero-tolerance view on violent, sexual, and property crimes.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I have many examples throughout my life, my parents, former mentors and leaders. But it all started with my grandfather Guillermo L. Alquero, he was kind, he loved his family, humble, happy, intuitive and wise.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Loyalty to the Constitution, honesty, integrity, respect, humble, selfless service, personal courage, being a servant leader.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Leadership ability, high stress tolerance, able to build and maintain positive personal and professional relationships. Relentless loyalty to our Constitutional Republic, significant real world life experience.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To uphold their oath and defend our Constitutional Republic. To keep their constituents factually informed and represent as well as address their concerns as their representative.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a sandwich artist at Subway at 14 years old.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Deficit reduction and balancing the budget.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

The U.S. Government receives revenue from the American taxpayer. So, 100% transparency and accountability to the American taxpayer needs to be the norm.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Smith’s campaign website stated the following:

“	My Position I am a moderate, center-right. The core components of my beliefs are in support of our Constitutional Republic, limitations of government and individual rights. I believe that America is the "city on the hill", as a country, I believe in American values and that as a people we are exceptional, innovative, optimistic, with a strong fighting spirit and throughout our success and failures we continually strive to be a more perfect union. I support policies that will benefit the constituents of California's 3rd District and our great nation. My Platform My platform is focused on what Californian's within the 3rd District are concerned with. Economy Many Californians are suffering, feeling stressed and hopeless. Our economy is in shambles, the American Dream is on life support. With high inflation producing high costs on everyday items. Many Californians are living paycheck to paycheck, sacrificing priorities to just make it day to day. I support real wage growth, putting the Federal Reserve and their policies in check, making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, suspending the gas tax, getting people back to work reducing government spending as well as hold the government accountable for waste. Taxes I support lower taxes for small & medium sized business and the average American household. I am not a proponent of our current tax system and I believe that many of these larger corporations are not being held to account. Much of the tax burden falls between the dwindling middle class. As Californian's we are taxed on our income, property, what we buy, what we sell, at the pump, on our cellphones, our deaths, every aspect of our lives are inundated by some sort of government tax or fee. I believe simplifying the tax code is needed. Housing Housing is unaffordable for many Californians. With the significant increase in home prices as well as interest rates, home buying is now a pipe dream for many Californians. Even rents have skyrocketed. Much of these home prices and rents I believe are artificially driven up due to major corporations buying up residential homes, driving up home prices and rents. We must take these major corporations, including foreign corporations, out of the housing market. Further deregulation for home builders to increase housing inventory. The cost of housing and living in California has many Californians seeking the American Dream in other destinations throughout the U.S. Healthcare Healthcare in America is failing many. The costs alone are staggering, especially for those with families. The cost of prescription drugs and medical procedures, the waste and inefficiency within the insurer and provider administrative systems, the consolidation of hospitals resulting in providers increasing costs to achieve larger margins. Healthcare should be a non-issue for the United States. All Americans should have affordable healthcare. Also, with the rampant increase in drug addictions and mental health issues today there should be resident programs to aid them in getting better. Crime I have a firm stance on crime, we need to bring safety and security back within many of our communities. We have let the criminals run without consequence in California long enough. There should be a zero-tolerance view on violent, sexual, and property crimes. I fully support Law Enforcement, and they should be provided with the tools and resources that focus on positive outcomes within their communities. I do not believe in the militarization of our police officers patrolling our communities, except for specific high-risk sections like, SWAT and SRT for very limited and focused high-risk roles. Law Enforcement should be provided with more resources for training given their roles in supporting the communities they serve, officer retention support programs and community support initiatives. Energy American energy should be affordable. I believe that all energy resources should be used, from drilling and fracking for oil, to natural gas, solar and wind, and supporting initiatives to ensure energy sustainability that is affordable. I even believe that nuclear energy should be reconsidered. I support the continued development of new technologies and methods that could support future energy needs, including clean energy. Californians deserve reliably consistent affordable energy, alternative energy programs should not be rapidly forced, but slowly implemented as technology and infrastructure becomes more developed, stable, and affordable to all Californians. Veterans Affairs I am a strong advocate of taking care of our veterans. As a veteran myself, I too experience the challenges within the VA System concerning healthcare, claims issues & backlogs, appointment timelines, PTSD, and veteran suicides. I hear and experience veteran issues through the community I served with, not getting the right care, I have had friends lose their lives to delayed care, and suicides. Small Business Small Business is the corner stone of American prosperity. I believe in lowering barriers of entry, further tax breaks and initiatives to support small business such as easier access to capital through loans. Many small businesses are struggling to exist due to the bureaucracy's effects on their operating costs. If you are a small business in California, you should have every measure of a fighting chance to succeed with limited government interference or industry lobbyists influencing legislation to support their own benefit. Defense I do not support the sacrifice of our nation’s sons and daughters in long protracted wars with a diluted and unfocused mission. I only believe in American unilateralism and use of the world’s most powerful military force when it is just and quick. I also do not support endless proxy wars and sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to these nations that are unaccountable to the American people. I believe our United States military forces have one job, to close with and destroy the enemies of the United States. The United States military should not be used for societal social experiments, but maintain a strict culture of a disciplined, capable, and lethal military force that can quickly dominate the battlefield. Gun Rights I am a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and the citizenry's right to bear arms. As a gun-owner myself, I do believe that gun owners should be properly trained, responsible and safe citizens. Education I support education and believe that parents should have the ability of school choice for their children. School districts should be held to account if their administrators and teachers are failing their students. I believe in supporting the trade skill professions and bringing them back into High Schools as electives to develop interest in careers within the trades. Federal College Loans should only be given to those who are majoring in STEM programs. Offering better college payment programs for service in organizations like the Peace Corps. I also believe that we need to bring more focused civic specific studies back into the classroom as it is important for every American to understand their civic duties. Abortion Abortion is a state issue, and California is a Pro-Choice state. I will not support and fight federal legislation that violates state rights. Property Rights At no time should any government entity be allowed to continually tax for the life of or take your personal property. I am a strong advocate of personal property rights and its protection from government interference or seizure. Immigration Illegal immigration needs to cease, and the strengthening of our boarder needs to be an immediate priority. We must stem the drugs, human trafficking, child sex trafficking, and the numerous other threats an open border policy involves. We have to categorize the cartels operating with impunity at our border as what they are, terrorist organizations. I support legal immigration fully and believe that there needs to be a better less lengthy bureaucratic process to support legal immigration, especially for U.S. Citizen's sponsoring their family members. Term Limits Although requiring a Constitutional Amendment, and a heavy lift. I am a supporter of term limits for U.S. Supreme Court Justices. I understand the original concept and why lifetime appointments were necessary to insulate SCOTUS from partisan influence. But, as we have seen SCOTUS has turned into a battleground for political infighting and partisan politics. As with Congress, and the Executive Branch of government, many American's have lost faith in SCOTUS as well. As Americans we must find ways to restore faith back in our government institutions while supporting our Constitutional Republic.	”
—Robert Smith’s campaign website (2024)

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Robert Smith campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House California District 3	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

2024 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

U.S. House California District 3

Website

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YouTube

Footnotes

[show]

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Alex Padilla (D)

Adam Schiff (D)

Representatives

District 1

Doug LaMalfa (R)

District 2

Jared Huffman (D)

District 3

Kevin Kiley (R)

District 4

Mike Thompson (D)

District 5

Tom McClintock (R)

District 6

Ami Bera (D)

District 7

Doris Matsui (D)

District 8

John Garamendi (D)

District 9

Josh Harder (D)

District 10

Mark DeSaulnier (D)

District 11

Nancy Pelosi (D)

District 12

Lateefah Simon (D)

District 13

Adam Gray (D)

District 14

Eric Swalwell (D)

District 15

Kevin Mullin (D)

District 16

Sam Liccardo (D)

District 17

Ro Khanna (D)

District 18

Zoe Lofgren (D)

District 19

Jimmy Panetta (D)

District 20

Vince Fong (R)

District 21

Jim Costa (D)

District 22

David Valadao (R)

District 23

Jay Obernolte (R)

District 24

Salud Carbajal (D)

District 25

Raul Ruiz (D)

District 26

Julia Brownley (D)

District 27

George Whitesides (D)

District 28

Judy Chu (D)

District 29

Luz Rivas (D)

District 30

Laura Friedman (D)

District 31

Gil Cisneros (D)

District 32

Brad Sherman (D)

District 33

Pete Aguilar (D)

District 34

Jimmy Gomez (D)

District 35

Norma Torres (D)

District 36

Ted Lieu (D)

District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)

District 38

Linda Sánchez (D)

District 39

Mark Takano (D)

District 40

Young Kim (R)

District 41

Ken Calvert (R)

District 42

Robert Garcia (D)

District 43

Maxine Waters (D)

District 44

Nanette Barragán (D)

District 45

Derek Tran (D)

District 46

Lou Correa (D)

District 47

Dave Min (D)

District 48

Darrell Issa (R)

District 49

Mike Levin (D)

District 50

Scott Peters (D)

District 51

Sara Jacobs (D)

District 52

Juan Vargas (D)

Democratic Party (45)

Republican Party (9)