Linda Smith (American politician)

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. [2]

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 her maverick tendencies, such as opposing the Balanced Budget Amendment, supporting campaign finance reform, and being one of 9 House Republicans to vote against confirming House Speaker Newt Gingrich in early 1997. She also had a reputation for opposing gay rights and viewed homosexuality as a "morally unfit inclination."[3] 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.[4]

In the fall of 1998, while still a member of the U.S. Congress, Smith traveled to Falkland Road in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, which is one of the worst brothel districts in the world. The hopeless faces of desperate women and children forced into prostitution compelled her to found Shared Hope International (SHI), a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating sex-trafficking.[5] Since Smith's retirement from Congress, she has devoted her energy to this cause, traveling around the world to prevent, restore, and bring justice to victims of trafficking.[6] Shared Hope supports shelter and service creation for sex trafficking survivors using a comprehensive model for restoration. By partnering with local organizations, Shared Hope provides restorative care, shelter, education, and job skills training[7] at Homes and Villages of Hope[8][9] where women and children can live without time limit. Today, Shared Hope provides leadership in awareness and training, prevention strategies, restorative care, research, and policy initiatives to mobilize a national network of protection for victims.

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,[21] 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.[22][23] She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, USA Today, Dan Rather Reports, ABC News, the Dr. Phil Show,[24] O'Reilly Factor,[25] and CBN. She received the 2009 Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award[26] 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.

Linda Smith, Renting Lacy: A Story of America's Prostituted Children (Shared Hope International, 2009) ISBN 0-9765594-6-3

• Women in the United States House of Representatives

• United States Congress. "Linda Smith (id: S000587)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• http://www.sharedhope.org
• https://web.archive.org/web/20101118074621/http://www.thedefendersusa.org/

• 1998 Race for U.S. Senate
  • Patty Murray (D) (inc.), 58%
  • Linda Smith (R), 42%