Your Party Chair

Rod Smith

Raised on a family farm in South Florida, Rod Smith knows firsthand the true value of family and hard work. He graduated from public schools in Palm Beach County and worked his way through college, earning his law degree from the University of Florida.  Rod served nearly 20 years as a labor lawyer defending working Floridians.

In 1992, Rod was elected State Attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. As State Attorney, he earned national recognition for his successful prosecution of Gainesville serial killer Danny Rolling on charges of first-degree murder for the slayings of five college students.  He also created one of the state's first special prosecution units to crack down on crimes against women and children and a special unit to target environmental crimes.

In 2000, Rod ran for State Senate, winning a seat previously held by a Republican. Despite the gridlock in Tallahassee, Rod was able to build consensus and produce legislative results. In 2003 the Miami Herald recognized his leadership by ranking him the most effective Democrat in the Florida Senate. He successfully led efforts to strengthen programs to help abused children, fight discrimination in housing, protect the privacy of crime victims, improve the state's crime prevention initiatives, and reinforce homeland security. In the Republican-controlled legislature he was one of only two Democrats given a chairmanship:  he served as Chair of the Agriculture Committee, and as the Vice Chair of the Criminal Justice and Justice Appropriations Committees.

Rod was not afraid to take a stand against misguided leadership in Tallahassee, leading a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to successfully thwart Jeb Bush's interference in the Terri Schiavo case, and again working across the aisle to gather the votes necessary to stop Bush's expansion of school vouchers. Despite opposition in the legislature, Rod would not give up the fight to expand stem cell research.

In 2006, Rod ran in Florida's Democratic gubernatorial primary, gaining the endorsements of nine major Florida newspapers along the way, although he lost the nomination in a close battle to U.S. Representative Jim Davis. In 2010, Rod was the Democratic Nominee for Lt. Governor.

Rod practices law at the Gainesville firm of Avera and Smith and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Florida College of Law. He and his wife, DeeDee, an attorney and advocate for child abuse victims, live on their farm in Alachua County. They have three children and two grandchildren.