Linda Smith | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 3rd district | |
In office January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1999 | |
Preceded by | Jolene Unsoeld |
Succeeded by | Brian Baird |
Member of the Washington Senate from the 18th district | |
In office January 11, 1988 – January 2, 1995 | |
Preceded by | Joe Tanner |
Succeeded by | Hal Palmer |
Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 18th district | |
In office January 9, 1984 – December 4, 1987 | |
Preceded by | Oliver Ristuben |
Succeeded by | Stan Butterfield |
Personal details | |
Born | Linda Ann Simpson July 16, 1950 La Junta, Colorado, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Linda Ann Smith[1] (née Simpson; born July 16, 1950)[2] is a member of the Republican Party who represented Washington's 3rd congressional district from 1995 to 1999 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1998, losing to incumbent Democrat Patty Murray. After leaving politics, she founded Shared Hope International, a nonprofit organization focused on ending minor sex trafficking. Since its creation, Smith has worked around the world and within the United States on behalf of those who have been victimized through sex trafficking.
Smith grew up in a working class home. Her father abandoned the family and her mother remarried a mechanic, and in 1966 the family moved to Vancouver, Washington. Smith has an older sister, two younger sisters, and two younger brothers. In high school she had part-time jobs as a fruit picker and a day-care aide. She later recalled, "I felt like by 17, I had had more lives than most people." She was 24 years old when her mother died of cancer, leaving her two younger brothers at home.[1]
In 1968, she married Vern Smith, a young locomotive engineer, and they raised two children. She became the manager of a number of independent tax offices in Southern Washington. She currently lives in Vancouver and has two children and six grandchildren.
Smith began her political career in a special election in 1983 when she defeated a Democratic Party incumbent to win a seat in the Washington House of Representatives. In 1987, she moved up to the state Senate, giving Republicans control of that chamber, and remained there until her supporters began a September 1994 write-in campaign to elect her to Washington's 3rd congressional district, after Republican candidate Tim Moyer suddenly dropped out of the race. Smith began a 19-day-long grassroots campaign that resulted in her defeating the only Republican candidate listed on the primary ballot. Having secured a ballot line as the Republican nominee through her September write-in campaign, she went on to defeat liberal three-term Democrat Jolene Unsoeld in November. She narrowly won reelection in 1996, defeating Democrat Brian Baird by only 113 votes.
Smith was known for her strong pro-life stance and supporting campaign finance reform, and being one of 9 House Republicans to vote against confirming House Speaker Newt Gingrich in early 1997.
In November 1997, Smith was one of eighteen Republicans in the House to co-sponsor a resolution by Bob Barr that sought to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton.[3][4] The resolution did not specify any charges or allegations.[4] This was an early effort to impeach Clinton, predating the eruption of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. The eruption of that scandal would ultimately lead to a more serious effort to impeach Clinton in 1998.[5] On October 8, 1998, Smith voted in favor of legislation that was passed to open an impeachment inquiry.[6] On December 19, 1998, Smith voted in favor of all four proposed articles of impeachment against Clinton (only two of which received the majority of votes needed to be adopted).[7][8][9][10]
Giving up her House seat in 1998, Smith ran for Washington's U.S. Senate seat. She defeated former King County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Bayley to face sitting U.S. Senator Patty Murray, only the third Senate race between two women. Ultimately Murray won by a 58%-to-42% margin.[1]
As an expert on trafficking, Smith has spoken out against the trafficking of women and children in numerous Congressional hearings and in national and international forums, such as the World Conference on Trafficking, Congressional Hearing on the International Violence Against Women Act along with Ambassador Melanee Verveer and UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman,[27] and the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission on the Protection of Children. At the Helsinki Commission Hearing in 2006, Smith testified about the Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in America.[28][29] She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, USA Today, Dan Rather Reports, ABC News, the Dr. Phil Show,[30] O'Reilly Factor,[31] and CBN. She received the 2009 Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award[32] and the 2010 Soroptimist Ruby Award: For Women Helping Women. Smith has been published in news outlets and journals around the world; including The New York Times, the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, the International Review of Penal Law, and the Regent University Law Review.