Jeff Smith for Missouri Senate

Background:

I am a native St. Louisan who has dedicated my life to education, both in the political sphere and through direct work and volunteer experience. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in African-American Studies and Political Science from the University of North Carolina, I worked in the St. Louis Public Schools, helping to implement and track the success of a new mathematics curriculum. I then received my M.A. in political science from Washington University in 2001 and my Ph.D. in 2005. I have taught at Washington University and Dartmouth College and received the Washington University Dean's Award for Excellence in 2002. In addition to my teaching experience, I co-founded the Confluence Academies, a group of public charter schools in St. Louis, and serve on the Board of Directors, chairing board committees on community relations and academic achievement. I also serve on the board of the St. Louis chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice, a group devoted to fighting bigotry and racisam.

I have also served as political analyst for KMOV-TV (CBS) in St. Louis and for the BBC, and as senior adviser to Claire McCaskill in her 2004 bid for Governor, deputy political director for Bill Bradley's 2000 presidential campaign in Iowa, and research aide on Harvey Gantt's 1996 U.S. Senate campaign against Jesse Helms.

Most recently, I ran for the MO 3rd congressional district seat vacated by Dick Gephardt in 2004. Although I narrowly lost the nomination to Congressman Russ Carnahan, I did succeed in winning the city without a single ward organization endorsement, a feat unprecedented in St. Louis history. Our campaign displayed the power of grassroots politics, as my volunteers and I canvassed nearly 25,000 homes and held 93 coffees in the district. Being one of the original Dean Dozen candidates really helped put us on the map. Today, I am running for MO State Senate in the 4th District in order to continue the work started last year.

Goals:

I am running for a seat in the MO State Senate in order to continue my commitment to the rejuvenation of the city of St. Louis. I will use the opportunity to focus on the City and region, specifically in the area of education. I believe I could offer the unique perspective on an educator, which is often times missing in the formulation of education policy.

The city needs a senator dedicated to its fiscal, educational, and physical health. With an abundance of new ideas and energy, I hope to inject new life into a city and a state too often plagued by stagnation.

In office, I look to focus my attention on important issues like education reform, Medicaid reform, and redevelopment of the urban core. As one of only 11 Democrats in the Senate, I will have the ability to have a major impact on legislation, and to help stop Matt Blunt and the Republicans from slipping more damaging policies past Missouri's voters by forcing honest public debate on his harmful policy proposals. More than anything, though, I am running in order to see real improvement in the city in which I was born and raised.

Three specific goals I would like to accomplish are: 1) broadly speaking, a move towards public financing of state campaigns similar to that used by Maine and Arizona; 2) a system of statewide universal health insurance, and 3) preservation of a scientist's right to research (i.e., stem-cell).

Issues:

1) Education: As a teacher, school founder, and longtime public school advocate, I believe that I will bring a unique perspective to the state Senate. I will fight to reallocate the state funding formula to do more for urban schools with high percentages of students living in poverty, and I will sponsor a bill to forgive loans for top-notch college students who agree to major in education and teach in inner-city schools for 4 years. . In addition, I will support the expansion of charter schools as an alternative to public schools, due to their potential for innovation and community involvement, while opposing voucher programs that take money away from public schools that could otherwise be used for improvement and reform.
2) Health care: restore Governor Blunt's draconian cuts to Medicaid, and begin working towards legislation to provide every Missourian with health insurance.
3) Economic development: supporting preservation of the state historic tax credit that Republicans are attempting to cut, and protecting stem cell research. This research is not only a potential cure for a myriad of diseases but also an integral catalyst for regional economic development - and one of the few industries in St. Louis with the potential to attract highly-educated young people from throughout the nation.

Grassroots Support:

It will play an integral role. In my last campaign (for Congress), we brought a style of grassroots campaigning to the Congressional race that the city of St. Louis had not seen in some time, and the results and feedback from this strategy were remarkable. I knocked on 5,500 doors; 18 full-time interns and over 500 volunteers helped me knock on 20K+ more. I also attended 93 coffees throughout the district to help spread our message in person (this, along with my university students, was a major source of volunteers). I truly believe that it was these face-to-face meetings that almost made the difference in the race, as I - a complete unknown when the campaign began - achieved an upset victory in the urnan portion of the district, despite not receiving a single ward endorsement, and nearly won the race outright. After witnessing firsthand the power that grassroots campaigning can have in a race, I am committed to an even greater effort in this campaign. I have developed a dedicated corps of volunteers through local universities and other groups who will again be a vital part of my grassroots efforts. Since St. Louis is so much a city of neighborhoods, all it takes is a concerted effort to cover each and every one. Understanding the power personal contact can have, I feel I have an advantage in my willingness and my preparation to do so. Thus, our 2006 campaign will utilize the same methods, hopefully with a few innovations. We already have 9 interns concentrating on voter contact, along with dozens of new volunteers.

DFA Values:

I'm pro-choice, pro-stem cell, pro-gay rights. On fiscal issues, I have been a consistent critic of generational malpractice in fiscal policy - i.e., budget gimmicks that pass on fiscal problems to future generations. They have been as prevalent in Missou