Adam Smith (Washington politician)

Early life and education

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in SeaTac, Washington, Smith was adopted as an infant by Lelia June (née Grant) and his maternal uncle Ben Martin Smith III. He attended Bow Lake Elementary and Chinook Middle School before graduating from Tyee High School in 1983. In high school, Smith participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program. His father, who worked for United Airlines as a ramp serviceman and was active in the Machinists' Union, died when Smith was 19.

Smith attended Western Washington University in Bellingham for a year before graduating from Fordham University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington in 1990. He worked his way through college by loading trucks for United Parcel Service.

Early career

After law school, Smith worked as a private practice attorney with Cromwell, Mendoza & Belur. From 1993 to 1995, he served as a prosecutor for Seattle. In 1996, he worked temporarily as a pro tem judge.

Smith served in the Washington State Senate from 1991 to 1997. He was 25 years old at the time of his election in 1990, defeating a 13-year incumbent Republican, Eleanor Lee, to become the nation's youngest state senator.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

1996

Main article: 1996 United States House of Representatives elections#Washington

Smith won his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 by defeating another incumbent Republican, Rep. Randy Tate, with 50.4 percent of the vote. He has never faced another contest nearly that close.

1998

Main article: 1998 United States House of Representatives elections#Washington

Smith ran for a second term and defeated Republican Ron Taber in the general election, winning 65% of the vote.

2000

Main article: 2000 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith ran for a third term and defeated Republican Chris Vance in the general election, winning 61.7% of the vote.

2002

Main article: 2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith was reelected for a fourth term.

2004

Main article: 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith was reelected for a fifth term.

2006

Main article: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

In 2006, Smith won his sixth term in Congress against Republican Steve Cofchin, with 65.7% of the vote to Cofchin's 34.3%.

2008

Main article: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

In 2008, Smith won a seventh term in the House, defeating James Postma, a 74-year-old retired engineer running on a pro-nuclear power platform, with 65% of the vote.

2010

Main article: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith was reelected for an eighth term.

2012

Main article: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

For his first seven terms, Smith represented a district that straddled Interstate 5, from Renton through Tacoma to just outside of Olympia. Smith's district was significantly redrawn after the 2010 census. It absorbed much of southeast Seattle as well as most of the Eastside. As a result, it became the state's first with a majority of residents who are racial or ethnic minorities. It is also the state's second-most Democratic district; only the neighboring 7th district, which covers the rest of Seattle, is more Democratic.

Smith was reelected for a ninth term.

2014

Main article: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith was reelected for a tenth term.

2016

Main article: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith was reelected for an eleventh term.

2018

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith was reelected for a twelfth term.

2020

Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith ran for a thirteenth term and defeated Republican Doug Basler in the general election, winning 74.1% of the vote.

2022

Main article: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith ran for a fourteenth term and defeated Republican Doug Basler in the general election for a second time, winning 71.6% of the vote.

2024

Main article: 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington#District 9

Smith ran for a fifteenth term and defeated Democrat Melissa Chaudhry in the general election, winning 65.4% of the vote.

Tenure

Smith has been a long-time member in moderate "New Democrats" organizations and once chaired its political action committee.

In April 2007, Smith supported Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. He also appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews speaking for Obama. The same year, he also appeared on The Colbert Report, in the show's 434-part series known as "Better Know A District".

On July 8, 2024, Smith called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election. Smith voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

Foreign affairs

On October 10, 2002, Smith was among the 81 Democratic members of the House to vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq. In March 2012, he said that U.S. troops had done "amazing work" in Afghanistan and that it was "time to bring the troops home".

Smith voted against the Protect America Act of 2007, which has been criticized for violating Americans' civil liberties by allowing wiretapping without issued warrants. But in 2008, he voted for a similar bill, the FISA Amendment Act of 2008 (FAA), reauthorizing many of the provisions in the expired Protect America Act, leading critics like the ACLU to call it "an unconstitutional bill that would significantly modify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act", granting expansive new monitoring powers to the executive branch with very little court oversight. The FAA also ensured the dismissal of all pending cases against telecommunication companies for their previous illegal spying on American citizens on behalf of the Executive Branch. Smith also voted for the 2001 Patriot Act and to extend the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

On December 16, 2010, Smith defeated Silvestre Reyes and Loretta Sanchez to become the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee after Chairman Ike Skelton was defeated for reelection. In the first round, Sanchez and Smith earned 64 votes, and Reyes earned 53. In the runoff, Smith defeated Sanchez by 11 votes.

In 2011, recognized for his work in fighting global poverty, Smith became only the second member of Congress selected for the Borgen Project's board of directors. The same year, he argued against cuts that could "jeopardize our national security" and leave the U.S. "more vulnerable to nuclear terrorism".

In 2001, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which gave the president authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against those who committed and aided the September 11 attacks. While this power has been rarely used to detain persons in the U.S., Smith introduced a bill to ensure that anyone detained on U.S. soil under the AUMF has access to due process and the federal court system. The bill also prohibits military commissions and indefinite detention for people detained in the U.S. and would ensure the detainees constitutional rights.

Smith and Representative Mac Thornberry co-sponsored an amendment to the fiscal 2013 defense spending bill reversing previous bans on disseminating Defense and State Department propaganda in the U.S., reversing the Smith–Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, designed to protect U.S. audiences from government misinformation campaigns. The bill passed on May 18, 2012, 299 to 120.

Smith, concerned about the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, tried to contact Joe Biden in advance, without success; however, he did get a call from Biden after he criticised the Afghanistan withdrawal—the only one he got from Biden in four years.

In September 2025, a bipartisan delegation led by Smith visited China and met with Premier of China Li Qiang on September 21. This marked the first visit to China by a U.S. House of Representatives delegation since 2019.

Domestic affairs

In December 2023, Smith introduced the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act of 2023 to the House. This legislation would require hedge funds to sell at least 10% of the single-family homes they own yearly over 10 years. After this period, hedge funds will be banned from owning single-family homes.

Key votes

• Smith voted to approve the invasion of Iraq.
• Smith voted to approve the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)
• Smith co-sponsored the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, which allowed domestic dissemination of U.S. public diplomacy information.
• Smith voted against an amendment restricting the National Security Agency from collecting phone records of Americans suspected of no crimes without a warrant.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

• 21st Century Healthcare Caucus
• American Sikh Congressional Caucus
• Black Maternal Health Caucus{{cite web|title=Caucus Members
• European Union Caucus
• Goods Movement Caucus
• Intellectual Property Caucus (Co-chair)
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
• Waterways Caucus
• New Democrat Coalition
• Congressional Progressive Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Afterschool Caucuses
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Congressional Motorcycle Caucus
• Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus
• U.S.-Japan Caucus
• Medicare for All Caucus
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption (co-chair)
• Rare Disease Caucus
• Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans
• Congressional Taiwan Caucus

Electoral history

[[Washington State Senate]]

U.S. House of Representatives

Personal life

In 1993, Smith married Spokane native Sara Bickle-Eldridge, a graduate of the University of Washington and Seattle University School of Law. Their daughter was born in July 2000, followed by their son in June 2003. He is an Episcopalian.

Smith has talked openly about his struggles with anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. He wrote about it at length in his 2023 memoir Lost and Broken: My Journey Back from Chronic Pain and Crippling Anxiety.

References

Sources

• The Almanac of American Politics 2004. Washington, D.C.: National Journal, 2003.
• Pierce County Official Local Voters' Pamphlet (Pierce County Auditor, 2012).

References

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