Representative David Smith

David Smith is a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing District 18, which includes parts of Coal, Hughes, Okfuskee, and Pittsburg counties. He has served since November 2018, focusing on rural issues, veterans' affairs, and military support.

David Smith grew up in the Divide community near Nashoba in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, spending summers with his grandparents and working fields from age 10. He quit school at 15 to support his family as a dishwasher, later working in oil, construction, and as a ranch foreman in Arizona. In 1995, he earned his GED; in 1996, he joined the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence Corps, where he served four years until an injury led to an honorable discharge. That year, he married his wife, Teresa, and resides in McAlester. Elected in 2018 after feeling a calling to public service, he champions rural and veterans' issues, including an annual veterans' campout and a program distributing students' Christmas cards to veterans' nursing homes.

Education and Political Experience

• Education: Associate degree from Cochise College; Bachelor of Science in business management from University of Phoenix.
• Political Experience: Assumed office November 21, 2018, succeeding Donnie Condit. Notable roles include vice chair of House Wildlife Committee , vice chair of House Veterans and Military Affairs Committee , and current chair of Veterans and Military Affairs. Serves on Appropriations and Budget, A&B Natural Resources, Government Modernization and Technology, Health and Human Services Oversight, and Conference Committee on Health and Human Services Oversight. Authored House Bill 3395 proposing a stop-and-frisk policy, which did not advance.