RNLA Spotlight: Former FEC Commissioner to Speak at National Election Law Seminar

Brad Smith is the Chairman and Co-Founder of the Center for Competitive Politics. Brad served as a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission and is considered one of the nation’s foremost experts on campaign finance law.  We are excited to announce that Brad will be speaking at the RNLA National Election Law Seminar on August 9^th and 10^th in Chicago, Illinois. 

A recent New York Times story refers to Mr. Smith as the “intellectual powerhouse” of the movement to roll back campaign finance restrictions and talks about how he had to be personally persuaded by Senator Mitch McConnell to be a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission.

In 2001 his book on Free Speech and Campaign Finance Unfree Speech: the Folly of Campaign Finance Reform, was lauded by George Will as the year’s “most important book on governance.”

Brad has been referred to as “the most sought after witness in Congress” on campaign finance issues, Additionally, he has authored over 40 articles on campaign finance reform, appearing in academic publications such as the Yale Law Journal and Georgetown Law Journal, and popular publications such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and National Review. Further he has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Bill Moyers Journal, the Lehrer News Hour, Fox News Special Report, ABC News, Washington Journal, and many other national and local television and radio programs.

When he was an FEC Commissioner, Mr. Smith was known for his integrity and refusal to put the political interests of party’s ahead of his duties to improve the election system. He is also known for his vehement support of free speech in America. For his honesty and integrity on the Commission, the Wall Street Journal affectionately dubbed him, “the only honorable man in this bordello.”

Currently Mr. Smith serves as the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship and teaching, and is a past member of the Advisory Committee to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Election Law. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the Election Law Journal, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Smith also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Studies, is a senior fellow at the Goldwater Institute and is a member of the Board of Scholars of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Smith is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and Kalamazoo College and holds an honorary doctorate from Augustana College.

The Republican National Lawyers Association is extremely excited to have a legal scholar of Brad Smith’s magnitude speaking at our National Election Law Seminar.