Will Smith (Alabama)

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Will Smith

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

July 14, 2020

Personal

Birthplace

Florence, Ala.

Religion

Southern Baptist

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Will Smith (Republican Party) ran for election for judge of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. He lost in the Republican primary runoff on July 14, 2020.

Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Smith was a 2016 candidate for the 11th Circuit, Place 1 in Alabama. The election took place on March 1, 2016.

Elections

2020

See also: Alabama intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Incumbent J. Elizabeth Kellum won election in the general election for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J. Elizabeth Kellum (R)	97.8	1,537,451
		Other/Write-in votes	2.2	34,128

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,571,579
= 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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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Incumbent J. Elizabeth Kellum defeated Will Smith in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J. Elizabeth Kellum	55.7	270,306
		Will Smith	44.3	214,764

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 485,070
= 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 Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Incumbent J. Elizabeth Kellum and Will Smith advanced to a runoff. They defeated Jill Ganus in the Republican primary for Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J. Elizabeth Kellum	43.4	232,303
✔		Will Smith	37.1	198,663
		Jill Ganus	19.5	104,680

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 535,646
= 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

Ben Graves defeated William Smith in the Alabama 11th Circuit Court Republican primary for Place 1.

Alabama 11th Judicial Circuit (Place 1), Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ben Graves	52.73%	8,241
William Smith	47.27%	7,389
Total Votes		15,630
Source: Alabama Votes, "Unofficial Election Night Results," March 3, 2016

Selection method

See also: Partisan elections

There are 144 judges on the Alabama Circuit Courts, each elected to six-year terms. They appear on partisan election ballots statewide and must face re-election if they wish to serve again. The chief judge of a circuit court is selected by peer vote and serves a three-year term.

Only voters residing in a particular circuit may vote for the circuit judge of that region.

Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:

• licensed to practice law for at least five years;
• a resident of his or her circuit for at least one year;
• under the age of 70 at the time of election (judges who turn 70 in office may serve until their term expires)

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Will Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. 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 have always been fascinated with criminal law and trials since I first read To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee's wonderful book was my inspiration to go to law school

I am 5th generation Lauderdale County resident who graduated from Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in 1992 where I received the American Jurisprudence Award for receiving the highest grade in Criminal Procedure. I have practiced law for over a quarter of a century and successfully handled appeals in both the Alabama and federal appeals systems. I am licensed to practice in Alabama, Georgia and the United States Supreme Court.

I am a Christian and my wife is Laura. We have a daughter, Angel Joy, who is six and has autism. We are members of Greenhill First Baptist Church. I have been a Sunday school teacher and an international missions worker.

I am a former Lauderdale County Commissioner and have been very involved in civic leadership serving as President of the University of North Alabama Alumni Association, the Lauderdale County Bar Association, Tennessee Valley Historical Society, and the Shoals Republican Club. I have been a board member of the Salvation Army, YMCA, Rape Response of Northwest Alabama as well as a member of the Florence Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow) and the Alabama Cattlemen's Association .

I am a longtime member of the Federalist Society and have been an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at both the University of North Alabama and Northwest Shoals Community College.

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 have the legal experience and wisdom to be an Alabama Criminal Appeals Judge.
• I have the conviction to follow the rule of law.
• I will be fair, honest and impartial as an Alabama Criminal Appeals Judge.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am very concerned about activist judges who legislate from the bench. I believe judges should be fair and impartial. Judges should follow the rule of law as written and not legislate from the bench.

I would describe my judicial philosophy as conservative and a strict constructionist.

I believe the three most important attributes of a judge are the following:
1. Fairness/Impartiality
2. Consistency
3. Adherence to the rule of law

As an Alabama Criminal Appeals Court Judge, I would, to paraphrase Micah 6:8, seek to act justly, to love mercy and walk humbly.

I will work hard to do the best job I can. I will hire the best and the brightest to work in my office and we will pursue excellence.

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

I draw inspiration from a number of individuals. Historical figures would be Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan. Churchill led his country out of the lowest point in it's history to victory in World War Two. Reagan led our country out of a very low point in our country's history and restored American pride.

I admire my parents for achieving the American Dream while raising their three sons.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

At the age of six years old, I remember our country landing on the moon and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon.

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

My first job was working in my family's small business which they still own. It was at an early age working for my parents that I learned the value of hard work. It is this work ethic that I will bring to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.

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.

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