Smith served on the town board for the Town of Brunswick and was chair of the board. He founded the Parent Advisory Committee for the Eau Claire School District. Because of that work, he was appointed by Governor Jim Doyle to serve on the Task Force on Educational Excellence in 2003. Smith also served as the co-chair of the Eau Claire County Democratic Party. He is a member of the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce and Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. Smith was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2006, unseating the RepublicanincumbentRobin Kreibich. He was the chair of the Elections and Campaign Reform Committee and a member of five other committees: Colleges and Universities, Financial Institutions, Education, Renewable Energy and Rural Affairs, and Public Safety. Smith sponsored Assembly Bill 119, which established five-year-old Kindergarten as a prerequisite to first grade in public and charter schools; Assembly Bill 250, which created licensing requirements for dog sellers and animal shelters, and Assembly Bill 276, which divided the UW SystemBoard of Regents into seven geographical districts. Based on lifetime voting records on gun issues and the results of a questionnaire sent to all Congressional candidates in 2008, the National Rifle AssociationPolitical Victory Fund assigned Smith a grade of C. Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to the AFL-CIO, Smith received a rating of 100. NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin gave Smith a rating of one-hundred percent on abortion-related issues. In 2010, Smith earned a 100% rating from the Wisconsin League of Conservation voters. In February 2010, Smith received a Humane State Legislator award from The Humane Society of the United States, which.recognized him for his efforts to pass The Dog Breeders Licensure Bill, which regulates large-scale puppy breeding operations, commonly referred to as "puppy mills."
2010 election
On November 2, 2010, Smith was narrowly defeated for reelection by Republican Warren Petryk. After losing re-election, Smith took a three-month position as a registered lobbyist for the Humane Society of Wisconsin to promote the enactment of Dog Breeder's Regulation bill or "Puppy Mill bill", Act 90, which was passed unanimously by the legislature.
2012 election
On November 6, 2012, Smith ran for his former seat and was defeated again by Petryk. In 2013, he was hired as the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's regional political director for northwestern Wisconsin.
2014 election
On November 4, 2014, Smith again ran for his former seat and was again defeated by Petryk.
In 2015, Smith was a candidate for chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, facing Jason Rae, Martha Laning, Joe Wineke, and Stephen Smith. If elected DPW Chair, Smith said he’d make it a priority to engage county parties and empower them to be more proactive. During the campaign, Smith's campaign penned a letter that criticized Laning for her lack of experience and offered her the post of DPW Executive Director if Smith were to be elected chair. Laning publicly stated that she had refused Smith’s offer and criticized Smith for mentioning the offer in campaign literature, which she referred to as "sexist." Shortly after the letter controversy, Smith wrote an open letter dropping out of the race and asking his supporters to support Laning. Smith now works for Citizen Action of Wisconsin as the organizer for the Western Cooperative.
2018 Senate election
In March 2018, Smith announced his run for the Wisconsin State Senate representing District 31, a seat currently held by Gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Vinehout. Smith won a three-way Democratic primary on August 14th with 50% of the vote. On November 6, he was elected to the seat, defeating Republican Mel Pittman and Green Party candidate Aaron Camacho.
