Former Yavapai County District 5 Supervisor Jack Smith filed a statement of interest on March 8 and plans to form a committee in the next few weeks to run in the Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives District 2 seat currently held by incumbent U.S. Rep. Eli Crane [R].

Smith was a member of the Board of Supervisors from 2012 until July 2019, when he was appointed the Arizona state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Rural Development. Smith’s seat was filled by current Supervisor Mary Mallory [R-District 5].

“I pride myself in being a former soccer coach for the local community, as well as a leader throughout Yavapai County and throughout the state,” Smith said. “[For] myself, my biggest accomplishment, obviously, is my family.”

After his time with USDA, Smith worked for Yavapai College as a risk and safety manager and spent two and a half years as an administrator with the Arizona Department of Administration in the Division of School Facilities. He served in the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1993.

“My knowledge of federal [government] has changed [since] being with the Trump administration,” Smith said. “Because I was able to go to all points in Arizona, whether it be with the [tribal] nations working, getting schools up and going, getting community centers, gas stations [and] working towards economic development … I’ve definitely grown since being a county supervisor, and know how the federal government works. Honestly, I think if you really roll your sleeves up and dig in, you can really make an impact. I did that as a county supervisor. That’s what I want to do as a representative.”

One of the means Smith sees to spur economic development is selling off federal lands to private owners.

“There’s a lot of federal lands … in the state of Arizona,” Smith said. “For years, even as a county supervisor, one of the questions that I always had is, ‘if we were to open up just some of those lands, to private investors or local communities that could purchase those lands, they would be able to provide tax revenues off of those lands.’ It would reduce the burden overall, because you’re opening up those lands. There’s no real reason why open land needs to be owned by the federal government, especially in Arizona. It’s important that we have state lands that are utilized for our school districts … [but] it’s important for Arizona lands to be utilized by those in Arizona.”

Smith added that he didn’t see any specific land he would like to see transferred but commented that he has seen several federal buildings that are currently unoccupied in Arizona.

Facing Eli Crane

“Why am I running?” Smith said when asked. “Unlike my opponent … I live in a rural setting. I’ve lived in the district for many years, and I want to make sure … that the representative representing rural Arizona actually is that. … I raised my kids in the schools. For nine years, I was the transportation manager for Ace Hardware distribution center, seven years county supervisor … I know the issues and I know my fellow neighbors. And it’s not about politics. It’s about rolling up our sleeves, making sure that rural issues are addressed very quickly.”

Smith said that understanding the rural environment and its values is key, and that he has gained that understanding since relocating to the district around 2007 from Phoenix.

One initiative that Smith said he would like to see, based on his time working for Yavapai County, would be county efforts to encourage the use of French drain designs for rural homes to redirect rainwater from rooftops into the ground to recharge aquifers.

Crane has repeatedly defended his Oct. 3 vote to remove Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy [R-Calif.]. Smith declined to answer a question on whether he would have also voted to remove McCarthy as speaker if he was in Crane’s position.

“I wasn’t there,” Smith said.

“I want to see the community that I’m raising my kids in flourish and be very strong and very faith-driven,” Smith said in closing.