Bob Smith (Michigan)

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This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Bob Smith
Image of Bob Smith

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Associate

Grand Rapids Community College, 2020

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1987 - 1989

Personal
Birthplace
Detroit, Mich.
Religion
Christian
Profession
Production worker
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Bob Smith (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Michigan House of Representatives to represent District 77. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Smith was born in Detroit, Michigan. He earned an associate degree from Grand Rapids Community College in 2020. His career experience includes working as a production worker and production team leader at North America Fuel Systems Remanufacturing. As of his 2020 campaign, Smith was serving on the executive board of the union's Community Action Program. He served in the U.S. Army from 1987 to 1989.[1]

Smith has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]

  • United Auto Workers
  • UAW West Michigan CAP
  • UAW Local 167, former vice president
  • Kent County Democratic Party
  • Loyal Order of Moose #1939

Elections

2020

See also: Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan House of Representatives District 77

Incumbent Tommy Brann defeated Bob Smith in the general election for Michigan House of Representatives District 77 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tommy Brann
Tommy Brann (R)
 
59.9
 
30,215
Image of Bob Smith
Bob Smith (D) Candidate Connection
 
40.1
 
20,195

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 50,410
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 77

Bob Smith advanced from the Democratic primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 77 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bob Smith
Bob Smith Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
6,456

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 6,456
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 77

Incumbent Tommy Brann advanced from the Republican primary for Michigan House of Representatives District 77 on August 4, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Tommy Brann
Tommy Brann
 
100.0
 
10,576

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 10,576
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Bob Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Smith's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a factory worker and union vice president who recently earned a degree in business from Grand Rapids Community College. I grew up in Sterling Heights the son of an auto worker and a nurse. I raised my daughter as a single parent in Muskegon while working non-union in a low-paying welding job. I learned many hard lessons during that time and lost a lot of assumptions. I now live in Byron Center and work in a good paying union shop. My involvement in union leadership has inspired me seek public office so that I can represent all working families.
  • Strong advocate for working families.
  • Experienced leadership as a local union officer.
  • Will invest in our communities and our neighbors.
Detroit Free Press   Featured local question
Education and infrastructure.

One of the largest employers in my district, General Motors Component Holdings, has struggled for months to fill up to twenty high paying skilled trades positions. The talent is not finding their way to Wyoming, Michigan. We need to close the talent gap in this state and education is the key to doing so. Investing in education now will pay dividends in the form of tax revenue, and decreased demand on public assistance, later.

The infrastructure in our state is crumbling faster than we are making repairs. Not just the roads, but also dams and water systems and etc... If we reinstate the prevailing wage act and really invest in having highly skilled workers rebuild our infrastructure, this will also pay dividends but much sooner. It will also make the state much safer.
My biggest passion is labor law. Worker protections are under attack across the country, including Michigan. Union busting laws have stripped away many collective bargaining rights that are essential for protecting workers and their families.

Another passion is citizen participation in government. Our ballot initiative process needs reform to protect it from abuses by the Legislature. When a proposal is placed on the ballot it must be decided by Michigan voters. The Legislative practice of adopting a proposal to keep it off the ballot, then changing or repealing it during a "lame duck" session must end.

I am for government that is transparent and responsive to those it serves.
When I was a child, my dad worked at the Chevy plant while my mom stayed with the kids. With just one job my dad bought a house in Sterling Heights, provided for seven children and, after most of my older siblings had grown, put my mom through nursing school. As an adult, I raised one child as a single parent in Muskegon. I worked for a non-union auto supplier and could barely keep my head above water; each month going a little deeper in debt just to keep the bills paid and food on the table. Today, even most union workers need their spouse to work outside the home to provide for their families. Wages have not kept up with inflation and I believe that this is tied to the decline in union membership and collective bargaining rights. My ideal legacy would be to leave behind a Michigan where the minimum wage is a living wage, where joining a union is easy and encouraged, and all families can choose to keep one parent home raising the children if they want.
The Iran Hostage Crisis. I was ten years old and it was all that my parents and older siblings talked about for a long time.
"Does to Me" by Luke Combs
Not necessarily. Too many years in government can cause a person to forget where they cam from. I believe that it is good for State House Representatives to go to Lansing straight from civilian life, while they are still in touch with the people that they serve and still feel the issues that drove them to run.
Yes. There is too much gridlock in government and I believe that it is caused in part by legislators only seeing each other in terms of "on my side" or "not on my side." Breaking legislative gridlock requires cooperation and compromise. People do not like to cut deals with their "enemies," but will negotiate and compromise with a friend or friendly colleague. I would work to build relationships on both sides of the aisle.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 24, 2020.


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