Preceded by Chris Dorworth Name Jimmie Smith Children Ashton, Gabriella | Succeeded by Ricardo Rangel Preceded by Ron Schultz Political party Republican Party | |
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Born October 12, 1965 (age 58)
Ridgewood, New Jersey ( 1965-10-12 ) Profession United States Army, security guard | ||
Jimmie Todd Smith (born October 12, 1965) is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 34th District, which includes Citrus County and northern Hernando County, since 2012, previously representing the 43rd District from 2010 to 2012.
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History
Smith was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and moved to the state of Florida in 1975. He then joined the United States Army, serving in South Korea, Panama, and in Saudi Arabia, where he served during Operation Desert Storm. After serving in Panama once more, Smith was stationed in Fort Bragg, located in North Carolina, before relocating to Fort Benning in Georgia, where he retired. He moved to Citrus County, where he began working as a security guard at the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant.
Florida House of Representatives
In 2010, Smith ran for the Florida House of Representatives in the Republican primary against incumbent State Representative Ron Schultz. He narrowly defeated Schultz by 399 votes, with 51% of the vote. Smith was unopposed in the general election.
When Florida House districts were redrawn in 2012, Smith ran for re-election in the newly created 34th District. He was opposed by former State Senator and Public Service Commissioner Nancy Argenziano, who ran as an independent candidate, despite serving as a Republican in the legislature. Lynn Dostal, a teacher, won the Democratic primary, but dropped out in favor of Argenziano, who received support from the Florida Democratic Party. Argenziano was endorsed over Smith by the Tampa Bay Times, which criticized Smith for offering "few substantive ideas," noting that "his most notable achievement is pushing a law that requires random drug testing of state employees, which is tied up in court." In the end, however, Smith defeated Argenziano, receiving 58% of the vote. In 2014, Smith was re-elected to the legislature without opposition, winning his third term entirely uncontested.
While serving in the legislature, Smith sponsored legislation that "would make it easier for Florida cattle ranchers and other owners of private property adjacent to state-owned land to exchange public parcels of equal value in return for conservation easements," which drew criticism from environmentalists. Additionally, he authored a bill that would "block welfare recipients from using their electronic benefit cards at places like casinos, bottle clubs, bingo facilities and strip clubs," declaring, "I don't want you to get a lap dance on my dollar."