Smith started out as a Democrat in his political career. He became Florida Attorney General in 1979, succeeding Robert Shevin, and he served in this capacity until 1987. In 1986, he ran for Governor of Florida. The Democratic primary was initially a three-man race, with Smith facing Senate PresidentHarry Johnston and Florida Representative Steve Pajcic. During the primary campaign, Smith pledged to support the eventual Democratic nominee. Smith and Pajcic survived the first round of the primary, and the widespread assumption was that Johnston, whose political beliefs were more closely aligned with Smith's than Pajcic's, would endorse Smith in the runoff primary. However, Johnston came out and endorsed Pajcic because, he said, Smith was running dishonest ads falsely linking Pajcic to pornographers and homosexual marriage. In the runoff primary, Smith narrowly lost the Democratic runoff to Pajcic, and then bitterly refused to campaign for Pajcic, despite his earlier pledge to support the party's nominee. Smith's snub of Pajcic was rewarded by victorious candidate Bob Martinez, who placed Smith on his transition team and appointed Smith to the position of Secretary of State of Florida. Upon joining the Martinez Administration, Smith officially became a Republican and as such was the first Republican to serve in the state cabinet since the Reconstruction era. During the Florida elections of 1988, he became alongside Tom Gallagher the first Republican elected to the state cabinet since the Reconstruction era. He served as secretary of state until 1995. He ran for Governor of Florida in 1994, but lost the primary to Jeb Bush. He again was appointed to the office of Secretary of State of Florida after Katherine Harris won the Republican nomination for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in August 2002; Smith held the position until January 2003. When it was announced that U.S. Senator Mel Martinez would resign from the Senate during the August 2009 recess, there was widespread speculation that Smith would be appointed to replace him, with the expectation that Smith would be a caretaker who would not seek reelection to a full term. However, Governor Charlie Crist appointed George LeMieux instead. When not holding government office, Smith has spent his time in private legal practice in Tallahassee, Florida. He is currently a shareholder for Smith & Ballard and serves as chairman of the board at Florida State.
