John Arthur Smith

John Arthur Smith (born 1942) is an American politician who served as a member of the New Mexico Senate, representing the 35th District from 1989 to 2021. In 2002, he sought to represent New Mexico's second congressional district when veteran congressman Joe Skeen announced that he was retiring. He defeated Las Cruces mayor Ruben Smith in the Democratic primary, but ultimately lost to Republican Steve Pearce 56 to 44 percent.[1][2]

John Arthur Smith
Member of the New Mexico Senate
from the 35th district
In office
1989–2020
Succeeded byCrystal Diamond
Personal details
Born1942 (age 80–81)
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Deming, New Mexico, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of New Mexico
Occupationreal estate appraiser

Career

Smith chaired the Senate Finance Committee.[3] He has been nicknamed "Dr. No" for fiscal conservatism, breaking with his party to refuse funding for many spending programs. Critics have called Smith "the primary obstacle to more substantial investment in early childhood education" for his refusal to allow a vote on whether to withdraw 1% more each year from the state's $18 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to fund early childhood programs.

Smith faced opposition in the 2020 Democratic primary from Neomi Martinez-Parra, a special education teacher and former New Mexico Democratic Party vice chair. In the July 2, 2020 primary, Smith lost to Martinez-Parra.[4]

References
  1. "New Mexico Official 2002 Election Results for CATRON County". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  2. "Election 2002 - House of Representatives". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  3. "Error - New Mexico Legislature".
  4. Boyd, Dan (2020-06-03). "NM Senate leaders ousted in 'monumental' primary - Albuquerque Journal". Abqjournal.com. Retrieved 2022-06-10.


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