Brad Smith

Chairman, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor

Bradley Smith is one of the nation’s foremost experts on campaign finance law. He has recently completed a term as Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, resigning as of August 21, 2005. Commissioner Smith served as Vice-Chairman of the Commission in 2003 and Chairman of the Commission in 2004. His 2001 book, Unfree Speech: the Folly of Campaign Finance Reform, was lauded by George Will as the year’s “most important book on governance.” Once called, “the most sought after witness in Congress” on campaign finance issues, Commissioner Smith 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. He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, Hardball, Bill Moyers, the Lehrer News Hour, Fox News Special Report, ABC News, Washington Journal, and numerous other national and local television and radio programs. As FEC Commissioner, he won plaudits for his integrity and refusal to put partisan interests ahead of his duties, as well as his steadfast support for free speech. For his honesty and integrity, the Wall Street Journal dubbed him, “the only honorable man in this bordello.” Prior to joining the FEC, Commissioner Smith was Professor of Law at Capital University Law School, to which he plans to return upon leaving the Commission. He has won numerous awards for his scholarship and teaching, and is a member of the Advisory Committee to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Election Law, the Editorial Board of the Election Law Journal, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Commissioner Smith is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and Kalamazoo College, and holds an honorary degree from Augustana College.

Research
	McConnell v. Federal Election Commission: Ideology Trumps Reality, Pragmatism
	Campaign Finance Regulation: Faulty Assumptions and Undemocratic Consequences
	POLICY PRIMER: Grassroots Lobbying Proposals Seem Not to Further Congress' Interest in Correcting Lobbying Abuses

Blog
	Reminder: CCP Advisors in Public Funding Panel
	Is FEC Enforcement Lacking? Tell It to These Guys
	Debating the CFI Report
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News Center
	Smith’s testimony before the United State House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution
	FEC Makes the Right Decision on 527s
	Awaiting Supreme Court's Opinion on Whether Citizen Groups Can Speak Over Airwaves about Legislation or Legislators Close to an Election
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