Senator Ralph Smith (R-Roanoke)

Party Republican Photo of Ralph Smith
District 22: Botetourt County (All), Montgomery County (Part), Radford City (All), Roanoke County (Part), Salem City (All) [map]
Took Office January 2008
Next Election November 2011
Committees Local Government, Privileges and Elections, Transportation
Age 66
Website ralphsmithsenate.com
Fundraising $10,626 cash on hand (From VPAP)
Copatroning Habits 61% of bills he copatroned were introduced by Republicans. Of all of the copatrons of his bills, 61% of them are Republicans. Of all of the copatrons of all of the bills that he also copatroned, 52% of them are Republicans.
Partisanship
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Tag Cloud ?
commendation education election family life education gay government immigration internet law enforcement locality property real estate sbe school sex student sunlight tax transparency voter
Bio

Retired from the trailer part manufacturing business. Served as the mayor of Roanoke from 2000-4. Defeated Sen. Brandon Bell in the Republican primary. Graduate of Nashville Auto-Diesel College. Has four children.
Top Recent Contributors
Donor Sector Total
Smith, Ralph K Republican candidate contributions to own campaign $130,000
Virginia Senate Republican Leadership Trust Republican Party committees $27,484
Building A Better Virginia PACs operated by Republican state politicians $25,000
Newman For Senate Republican candidate committees $12,000
Ralph Smith Mayor Cmte Uncoded $11,885
Gilmore Patriots Cmte PACs operated by Republican state politicians $5,000
Virginia Dental Assoc Dentists $5,000
Gilliam, Richard B Metal mining & processing $5,000
The Good Fund Republican candidate committees $5,000
Ottaway, Geoff Uncoded $4,400

Data provided by The National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Recent Mentions on Blogs

Waldo Jaquith: The legislature?s most prolific copatrons.

June 10, 2009
The more time that I spend mapping the social relationships of legislators via their copatroning habits, the more fascinated that I am by this mechanism of exploring the General Assembly. It really is a powerful tool. (To see one of the ways I?m using it on Richmond Sunlight now, check out HB1721 , SB1436 , or HB2482 , where you can see a graph indicating the average partisan position of each bill?s cosponsors.) Here?s a less thoughtful usage of this data, but no less interesting: a listi...

Star City Harbinger: Bill Cleaveland wins 17th District GOP nomination by 124 votes

June 9, 2009
With 100% of the precincts reporting, Bill Cleaveland is the 17th District Republican nominee who will take on Democrat Gwen Mason beginning today. Delegate Morgan Griffith introduced the new nominee who was flanked by Delegate William Fralin , State Senator Ralph Smith , and his four rivals. Cleaveland?s speech below. Get the <a href=?http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/mp3? mce_href=?http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/mp3?>Google Audio Widget</a&...

Roanoke Conservative: Many local legislators score well on TFFA report card

May 12, 2009
The Family Foundation Action, a non-profit pro-family group in Richmond, has just released their 2008/2009 Legislative Report Card. This document ranks our state senators and delegates on how they voted, according to issues that are important to the family. A special congratulations to our local elected leaders who scored 100%! This includes: - Senator Ralph Smith - Senator Steve Newman - Senator Mark Obenshain - Delegate William Fralin - Delegate Morgan Griffith - Delegate ...

Glass Gloves: Way to Go Virginia!

April 11, 2009
Citing the article at http://christianpost.com/Society/Family_issues/2009/04/virginia-gov-approves-law-requiring-schools-to-teach-benefits-of-marriage-02/index.html : The Virginian governor has signed legislation requiring local schools to teach the benefits and value of marriage as part of the state Board of Education?s Family Life Education program. Gov. Tim Kaine on Tuesday signed into law SB 827 and HB 1746, which broadens the range of topics covered by the family life education curric...

Old Virginia News: Cuccinelli Compass..Getting Around & Winning!

March 9, 2009
March 9, 2009 Dear Fellow Virginians, When I started writing this late Saturday night, I was at 15,000 feet passing Christiansburg on my way home from the 9 th District Gala and after spending the better part of the day in Bristol and Washington County, after starting out in Norfolk for breakfast. By the time I got home, I had traveled about 750 miles in cars and planes, and participated in 5 events in two different parts of the Commonwealth. It takes a lot...
Recent Mentions in the Media

Roanoke Times: Veterans join to raise flag

July 4, 2009
"America is a great nation," said state Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County. The former Roanoke mayor also gave a condensed reading of the Declaration of ...and more »

Roanoke Times: Cleaveland pulls away from the pack

June 10, 2009
After Cleaveland was announced as the winner, he was subsequently endorsed by Fralin, House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, state Sen. Ralph Smith and the ...and more »

Roanoke Times: GOP race for 17th is hard to call

June 8, 2009
Cleaveland enlisted veteran campaign consultant Steve Mabry -- who worked in the past for state Sen. Ralph Smith and the late Del.and more »

Bills