Richard Smith

Washington Supreme Court

Position 2

Richard Smith - no photo submitted EDUCATION: Richard Smith is a 1991 graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law and received a BBA from the University of Michigan in 1988.
OCCUPATION: Richard Smith helps people use the law to protect the environment and wildlife.
EMPLOYER: Richard Smith is a partner with the firm of Smith & Lowney.
LEGAL/JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE: Richard Smith is admitted to practice in Washington and before the Eastern and Western Districts of the U.S. District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
OPTIONAL INFORMATION: Richard Smith served on the board of directors of the Washington Environmental Council from 1995 through 2000, and was the chair of its legal committee during this time. He has served on the board of directors of the Washington Toxics Coalition since 2004.

Candidate Statement: An independent judiciary is essential to the function of our government. The infusion of special interest money into judicial elections gravely threatens judicial independence and our system of checks and balances. I stand for an independent judiciary and accept no significant campaign contributions. As a Supreme Court Justice, I will be beholden to no donor. Do you agree that big business is too powerful? Believe in human rights over "corporate rights"? Agree that our democracy should not be subverted by a campaign finance system that amounts to legalized bribery? Please support a publicly financed election system for Washington. See www.washclean.org.

Questionnaire: Not completed by candidate

Official web site: None

Opponents: Norman Ericson, Michael Johnson, Stephen Johnson, and Susan Owens.

Candidate ratings (click organization for details):

ORGANIZATION	NORMAN ERICSON	MICHAEL JOHNSON	STEPHEN JOHNSON	SUSAN OWENS	RICHARD SMITH
Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee	*	*	*	Qualified	*
King County Bar Association	*	Not Qualified	Well Qualified	Qualified	Qualified
Municipal League of King County	*	Not Qualified	Adequate	Outstanding	Good
Washington Women Lawyers	*	*	*	Exceptionally Well Qualified	*

Important note! Each of these organizations uses its own standards and rating terms when evaluating candidates; please check their pages for further information. Candidates with an asterisk (*) were not rated, and the reasons they are not included vary. Some were not offered an opportunity to participate; others may have declined. Again, please check the organizations' pages for further details.

Newspaper endorsements (click paper for details):

NEWSPAPER	NORMAN ERICSON	MICHAEL JOHNSON	STEPHEN JOHNSON	SUSAN OWENS	RICHARD SMITH
Centralia Chronicle
Kitsap Sun
Longview Daily News
Seattle P-I
Seattle Times
Spokane Spokesman-Review
Tacoma News-Tribune
Vancouver Columbian

Complete finance report, including:

campaign contributors (click link for contributor details)
direct independent expenditures (over $1,000)

ORGANIZATION	UPDATED	POSITION	FUNDING
Stephen Johnson Campaign Contributors	09/19/2006	Contributors to Stephen Johnson	*$235,253.85*
Building Industry Association of Washington	09/08/2006	Supporting Stephen Johnson	$52,006.15
Constitutional Law PAC	09/15/2006	Supporting Stephen Johnson	$4,583.89
Home Builders Ass'n of Tri-Cities	09/15/2006	Supporting Stephen Johnson	$1,862.28
Committee for Judicial Restraint	09/11/2006	Supporting Stephen Johnson	$4,411.12
It's Time for a Change	09/12/2006	Supporting Stephen Johnson	$64,789.52
It's Time for a Change	09/12/2006	Opposing Susan Owens	$13,391.45
TOTAL Supporting Stephen Johnson or Opposing Susan Owens			$376,298.26
Susan Owens Campaign Contributors	09/19/2006	Contributors to Susan Owens	*$165,451.92*
Citizens to Uphold the Constitution-FAIRPAC	09/07/2006	Supporting Susan Owens	$18,298.48
Citizens to Uphold the Constitution-FAIRPAC	09/07/2006	Opposing Stephen Johnson	$18,298.48
SEIU Washington Political Action Fund	09/15/2006	Supporting Susan Owens	$2,141.59
TOTAL Supporting Susan Owens or Opposing Stephen Johnson			$204,190.47

TOTAL Supporting Norman Ericson			$0.00
TOTAL Supporting Michael Johnson			$0.00
TOTAL Supporting Richard Smith			$0.00

VotingforJudges.org, P.O. Box 1460, Silverdale, WA 98383
Email your comments or fill out our form.

Votingforjudges.org includes ratings and endorsements from numerous organizations. We provide this information so that voters will be better informed about the candidates. We do not rate or endorse any candidates; the ratings and endorsements of organizations included at this site reflect the views of those individual organizations and not necessarily the views of votingforjudges.org or its sponsors.