As part of Civic’s series of interviews with candidates for the state Senate seat currently held by Scott Wiener, Erin Smith tells her story and lays out where she stands on policy issues. Smith is a former merchant marine officer, a gun rights activist, a transgender woman, and a Republican. She calls for reforms of policies like Proposition 47, a state ballot measure passed by voters in 2014 that reduced six nonviolent felonies including drug possession to misdemeanors, and AB 5, the “gig worker” law that makes it harder for companies to label workers as independent contractors rather than employees.
The primary for this race – which doesn’t go by party lines, unlike presidential primaries – happens March 3, with the final election in November. The top two vote-getters at the primary move on to the general election, even if both candidates have the same party designation.
“My personal opinion, from what I’ve seen is, I feel like the Democratic party is just turning technocratic. Part of being a Republican in this city is, how do you prove that the establishment doesn’t own you? If you have the big scarlet R, you’re not part of the establishment, that’s for sure. I also think that a uni-party state or locality, that’s bad for everyone. You need an opposition to keep everyone on your toes and call people out.” — Erin Smith
A segment from our radio show, “Civic.” Listen daily at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 102.5 FM in San Francisco.
