Earnest Smith
Earnest Smith is a former Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing District 125 from 2009 to 2017.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Banks and Banking |
| • Defense and Veterans Affairs |
| • Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications |
| • Game, Fish, and Parks |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Banks and Banking |
| • Defense and Veterans Affairs |
| • Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications |
| • Juvenile Justice |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Smith served on the following committees:
| Georgia committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Banks and Banking |
| • Children and Youth |
| • Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications |
Campaign themes
2016
Smith's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[2]
| “ | I Support:
|
” |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Georgia House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 24, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
Sheila Clark Nelson ran unopposed in the Georgia House of Representatives District 125 general election.[4][5]
| Georgia House of Representatives, District 125 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Sheila Clark Nelson (unopposed) |
100.00% | 15,120 | |
| Total Votes | 15,120 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Sheila Clark Nelson defeated incumbent Earnest Smith in the Georgia House of Representatives District 125 Democratic primary.[6][7]
| Georgia House of Representatives, District 125 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Sheila Clark Nelson |
56.92% | 1,978 | |
| Democratic | Earnest Smith Incumbent | 43.08% | 1,497 | |
| Total Votes | 3,475 | |||
2014
Elections for the Georgia House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014, with runoff elections taking place where necessary on July 22, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Earnest G. Smith was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while W.P. "Pat" Garrett was unopposed in the Republican primary. Smith faced Garrett in the general election.[8][9][10]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Earnest Smith Incumbent |
60.8% | 7,052 | |
| Republican | Pat Garrett | 39.2% | 4,547 | |
| Total Votes | 11,599 | |||
2012
Smith won re-election in the 2012 election for Georgia House of Representatives in the 125th District in 2012. He ran unopposed in the July 31 Democratic primary and defeated David Hopper (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[11][12]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Earnest Smith Incumbent |
65.5% | 12,173 | |
| Republican | David Hopper | 34.5% | 6,407 | |
| Total Votes | 18,580 | |||
2010
Smith ran for re-election to the 122nd District seat in 2010. He did not have any opposition in the July 20 primary and no one ran against him in the general election on November 2, 2010.[13]
| Georgia House of Representatives, District 122 (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Earnest Smith (R)
|
9,657 | 100.0% | ||
Campaign finance summary
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.
Noteworthy events
Photoshop Bill
On February 13, 2013, Smith introduced a bill in the Georgia House of Representatives that would make "the electronic imposing of the facial image of a person onto an obscene depiction" illegal and carry a $1,000 fine.[14] The legislation is the result of an incident where one of Smith's critics, Andre Walker of Georgia Unfiltered, photoshopped his head onto the body of a male porn star. Critics of Smith's response say that his proposed legislation is at odds with the First Amendment's free speech protections.[15] Images like this may be considered "parodies," a type of free speech already protected by the First Amendment.[16]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Georgia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through March 31.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on children's education.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through March 24.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2014, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 13 through March 21.
|
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2013, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 13 through March 21.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2012, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 29.
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for Earnest + Smith + Georgia + Legislature
External links
- Official campaign website
- Earnest Smith on Facebook
- Profile from Open States
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ The Augusta Chronicle, "State representative to be sworn in," December 28, 2009
- ↑ repearnestsmith.com, "Platform," accessed May 4, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 13, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General primary results," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division, "Candidate List," accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Elections Division, "2012 Election Results" accessed November 16, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official 2010 Election results," accessed April 16, 2014
- ↑ LegiScan, "Georgia House Bill 39," February 5, 2013
- ↑ Ars Technica, "Georgia bill would ban photoshopping legislator’s head on porn star’s body," February 13, 2013
- ↑ Fox News, "Georgia pol wants to make lewd photoshopping a crime after being mocked in porn star pic," February 13, 2013
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Susan Holmes (R) |
Georgia House of Representatives District 125 2013-2017 |
Succeeded by Sheila Clark Nelson (D) |
| Preceded by Hardie Davis |
Georgia House of Representatives District 122 December 28, 2009-2013 |
Succeeded by Ben Harbin (R) |
