David Smith

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October 4, 2024

David Smith is a 60-year-old Republican running for Florida House of Representatives District 38. Smith served his first term in the House in 2018 and won re-election in 2020 and in 2022 as well. 

Smith served for 30 years in the military, with 52 missions in Iraq, and retired from the U.S. Marine Corps with the rank of colonel. While serving in the House, Smith has been a first-name sponsor on 13 bills, including CS/HB1, an online protection for minors bill that would require social media platforms to prohibit certain minors from creating new accounts and to verify the age of account holders. 

Smith is endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, The Fraternal Order of Police, and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, among others. Learn more. 

OCN reached out to David Smith, but he did not respond. 

Over the course of his campaign, Smith has raised $575,835.66 and spent $245,460.85, according to Transparency USA.

Smith did not submit a video or participate in OCN’s candidate Q&A.

Author
Megan Stokes

Megan is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Oviedo Community News, the only independent news source for Greater Oviedo and Winter Springs. She oversees editorial content, policy and staff. She attends meetings, sends out the e-newsletter and curates conversations in the community to understand the information gaps that OCN needs to fill. She also works to create partnerships that can strengthen the bond between community and newsroom.

She has served as an award-winning community journalist for more than 20 years, including as associate editor for the East Orlando Sun and a reporter for the Seminole Voice, the Winter Park-Maitland Observer and Orlando Magazine.

In 2024, Megan was named Editor of the Year by the Society for Professional Journalism. With the Central Florida Foundation and Central Florida Public Media, she co-found the News Collaborative of Central Florida, a collective of independent local news outlets and aligned partners working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida.

She served as treasurer for the Florida Press Club for seven years and has won awards from the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Florida Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalism. Megan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism (now called the Reed College of Media) at West Virginia University.

Megan also loves yoga, running and playing board games with her family.

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