Smith served on the Port Orford City Council and school board, as president of the North Curry County Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the Curry County Planning Commission.[1]
Smith was elected to the Curry County Board of Commissioners in 2012. In 2013, an effort to recall Smith and fellow commissioner David Itzen was started, but this effort failed.[2][3] As commissioner, he worked with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley in an effort to combat the spread of sudden oak death in southwestern Oregon.[4]
Smith filed to run for the House in 2016.[5] He won the general election with 60% of the vote, defeating Democrat Terry Brayer and Libertarian Tamie Kaufman.[6] He serves on the following committees: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Energy and Environment, and Early Childhood and Family Supports, and as vice chairman of the Economic Development and Trade Committee.[1]
In a statement shortly after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Smith defended the rioters and claimed that unconstitutional actions occurred during the 2020 Pennsylvania election, saying "This was not a coup, and Rep. [Julie] Fahey's statement that those of us that signed a letter for the Oregon attorney general to uphold fair elections are 'complicit in today's violence' is shamefully arrogant and wrong. I have been very clear as this was not an act of sedition, it was to highlight the unconstitutional actions surrounding elections that occurred in Pennsylvania."[8]
