Jefferson Smith (Oregon Politician) - Political Career

Political Career

In 2008, Smith was elected with no opposition to the Oregon House of Representatives representing House District 47. The seat had been vacated by Jeff Merkley, who was running for the United States Senate.

In the Legislature, Smith collaborated with representatives from rural Eastern Oregon to develop a statewide water strategy. He co-led the initiative called "Cool Schools" to create jobs by helping Oregon public schools begin retrofitting for energy savings. Smith co-led the legislature's budget transparency initiative to put Oregon government spending information online, and carried a bill to reduce the ratio of middle managers to line employees in state government. Smith also co-led the initiative to create online voter registration in Oregon, and carried a bill in the Legislature to allow trafficked minors to expunge their prostitution convictions upon reaching age 21 if they have had no other trouble with the law.

In April 2011, Smith released the results of a video he compiled of Oregon state representatives reciting the lyrics of Rick Astley's 1980s pop hit "Never Gonna Give You Up".

In September 2011, he announced he would run for Mayor of Portland in 2012. In the May 2012 primary election, Smith defeated most other candidates to become one of the two candidates advancing to the November general election. He received 32.9% of the vote in the primary, while Charlie Hales received 37.2%. In the general election, closing on November 6, 2012, Smith received approximately 31.3% of the vote and was defeated by Hales, who received 61.2%.

Smith served in the 2012 Legislative session, but to facilitate his run for mayor he did not run for reelection to the House and vacated his seat in the Legislature after serving four years.