Their American Dream

A drink.A cigar.A conversation.

With Jimmie T. Smith

Government exists to protect your rights, not run your life.

Straight talk on taxes, housing, schools and local government from a 20-year Army veteran who served in the Florida House and on the Citrus County Commission.

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Jimmie T. Smith seated in a lamp-lit lounge with a glass of whiskey and a cigar

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Jimmie T. Smith

Jimmie T. Smith's family moved from New Jersey to Citrus County in 1975. At 17 he left high school and signed up with the U.S. Army through the Delayed Entry Program. Over 20 years he served with the 101st and 82nd Airborne, with tours in Korea, Japan, Panama, Honduras and Belize, and in the 1991 Gulf War. He retired as a staff sergeant in 2003.

Back home, he felt Citrus County wasn't being represented in Tallahassee. When the sitting state representative said, "It's not an expenditure issue, it's a revenue issue," Jimmie decided to run, though he had never run for anything. In the 2010 Republican primary he beat that incumbent in an upset, by 399 votes. The "common man" went on to serve three terms, chaired the Veterans and Military Affairs Subcommittee, and carried the Florida GI Bill. He went on to serve on the Citrus County Commission until 2020.

He lives in Citrus County with his wife. They have two children and three grandchildren.

1983–2003
U.S. Army, 101st and 82nd Airborne. Gulf War veteran.
2010–2016
Florida House of Representatives, Districts 43 and 34. The Florida GI Bill he carried passed the House 116–0.
2016–2020
Citrus County Commission

Young paratrooper in a maroon beret in front of the American flag — U.S. Army, Airborne

Rappelling down a rock face — Korea, 1985

Standing in a maroon beret beside an Army truck — Airborne

In face paint and helmet, holding a radio handset and orders — In the field

Raising his right hand to take the oath — Taking the oath

In a parachute harness on a drop zone — Drop zone

Manning a machine gun position in an orchard — Korea, 1985

2010–2020

In public service

Six years in the Florida House and four on the Citrus County Commission, spent mostly where the people are.

Waving from a Jeep in a parade, with a County Commissioner sign on the door — Parade day, Citrus County

Speaking with a microphone under a park pavilion — Speaking to neighbors

Seated with his wife on the Florida House floor, wearing a rose boutonniere — Florida House floor

Speaking at a City of Inverness podium — Inverness

Standing in front of the columns of Florida's Old Capitol — Old Capitol, Tallahassee

Standing in a campaign polo beside the flag and a Jimmie T. Smith sign — On the campaign trail

Speaking from a podium on stage to a seated audience — Town hall

Speaking with a microphone at a community hall event — Community hall

Walking arm in arm with his wife into an evening event — With my wife

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