Rep. Adam Smith (D) Elected 1996, 5th term
Born:	June 15, 1965, Washington, DC
Home:	Tacoma
Education:	Fordham U. B.A. 1987, U. of WA, J.D. 1990
Religion:	Christian
Marital Status:	married (Sara)
Elected  Office:	WA Senate, 1990-96.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1991-92; Seattle prosecutor, 1992-95.
DC Office	227 CHOB20515, 202-225-8901; Fax: 202-225-5893; Web site: www.house.gov/adamsmith
State Offices	Tacoma, 253-896-3775.
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The misty shores of Puget Sound have seen some of America's most vibrant economic growth over the last two decades. It has spread south from Seattle, over the mixed suburban territory, south and west to the outskirts of the once industrial city of Tacoma. The subdivisions along the Sound, which have some of the loveliest views in America, tend to be high-income. But much of greater Seattle's prime industrial territory lies between the ridges that run north and south inland. Weyerhaeuser, the world's largest private owner of softwood timber, has its headquarters here in Federal Way. Boeing is a major presence in Renton, on the south end of Lake Washington; its aircraft and electronic components plants have made it America's number one exporter for many years. A host of smaller factories cluster near the rail lines that run from Minneapolis-St. Paul across the Great Plains to Puget Sound.

The 9th Congressional District of Washington covers much of this area. It includes Sea-Tac Airport, Burien and Renton, not far south of Seattle, and Kent, Des Moines, most of Auburn and Federal Way farther south in King County. It includes the recently expanded container port of Tacoma, though most of the rest of the city is in the 6th District; in surrounding Pierce County it includes Edgewood and Puyallup, Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. It also includes a part of Thurston County outside the state capital Olympia. This district was created after the 1990 Census and politically was almost perfectly balanced in the mid-1990s: it elected a Democratic congressman in 1992, a Republican in 1994 and a Democrat in 1996. But as the Seattle area trended toward Democrats it has become more Democratic. George W. Bush won 43% of the vote here in 2000 and 46% in 2004.

The congressman from the 9th District is Adam Smith, a Democrat first elected in 1996. He grew up in the Sea-Tac area; his father, a baggage handler for United Airlines and active in the Machinists' Union, died when Smith was 17. The family went on welfare; Smith worked his way through Fordham driving trucks for UPS, then went to the University of Washington Law School. He worked as a lawyer, then as a Seattle prosecutor, handling drunk driving and domestic abuse cases. In 1990, at 25, he was elected to the state Senate, beating an incumbent Republican by doorbelling the district twice. In 1995, he decided to run against first-term Congressman Randy Tate. The two were born the same year, to families of modest backgrounds, were first elected to office at young ages and were firm believers in doorbelling. Tate, a religious conservative and strong supporter of Speaker Newt Gingrich, was a prime target of the AFL-CIO. Smith campaigned as a moderate Democrat, a supporter of the death penalty and three-strikes legislation. He attacked Tate for supporting Gingrich on 96% of House votes and for backing Medicare "cuts." Tate attacked Smith for opposition to channeling youthful offenders to adult courts and prisons and for voting for Governor Mike Lowry's $1.2 billion tax increase in 1993. This was one of the closest races in the country. In the September all-party primary, Smith led 49%-48%. In November, he won 50%-47%.

In the House, Smith won the locally useful assignment to the Armed Services Committee, joined the New Democrat Coalition, had a decidedly moderate voting record and was willing to take on established interests within his party. He voted for charter schools, but against school vouchers; he supported term limits and voted to allow concealed weapons permits to be transferred from state to state. He voted to authorize military action in Iraq, and sought to improve compensation and other quality of life benefits for military personnel. With Minnesota Republican Mark Kennedy, he co-sponsored a proposal to encourage innovative fee-based financing of new segments of the interstate highway system. In July 2004, he stirred controversy when he was one of only four House Democrats who opposed changes in the Patriot Act. A few days later, he told liberal activists that he should have voted the other way. On the Armed Services Committee, he urged speedy action on the recommendations of the 9/11 commission on intelligence reorganization. In 2005, he and Artur Davis and Ron Kind serve as co-chairmen of the House New Democrats.

Smith's independence has worked well for him back home. He has won reelection easily, and Republicans have quit targeting this district. In the 2004 campaign, he was one of the first congressional supporters of John Kerry and chaired his campaign in Washington; his centrist rhetoric occasionally offended supporters of Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich.

Committees

• Armed Services (10th of 28 D): Tactical Air & Land Forces; Terrorism, Unconventional Threats & Capabilities.
• International Relations (20th of 23 D): Asia & the Pacific; Europe & Emerging Threats.
• Judiciary (16th of 17 D): Commercial & Administrative Law.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	90	69	100	91	88	17	55	17	18	10	--
2003	85	--	88	100	--	35	50	28	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	63%	--	37%		67%	--	33%
Social	70%	--	30%		69%	--	31%
Foreign	58%	--	41%		75%	--	24%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion *  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War N 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Adam Smith (D)	162,433	63%	$527,669
	Paul Lord (R)	88,304	34%	$7,660
	Other	5,934	2%
2004 primary	Adam Smith (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Adam Smith (D)	95,805	59%	$769,600
	Sarah Casada (R)	63,146	39%	$61,073
	Other	4,759	3%
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (62%); 1998 (65%); 1996 (50%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 146,494 (53%) Bush (R) 126,428 (46%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 128,076 (53%) Bush (R) 104,549 (43%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Ninth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 6
• District Size: 691 square miles
• Population in 2000: 654,902; 95.0% urban; 5.0% rural
• Median Household Income: $46,495; 9.2% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 24.7% blue collar; 59.4% white collar; 15.9% gray collar; 17.2% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 73.3% White, 6.3% Black, 7.1% Asian, 1.1% Amer. Indian, 0.9% Hawaiian, 4.2% Two+ races, 0.3% Other, 6.7% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 13.2% German, 7.9% Irish, 7.7% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.