Representative David Smith

David Smith grew up in the Divide community close to Nashoba, OK, where he spent summers with his grandparents. From the age of 10, he worked the fields, hoeing peanuts near Red Rock State Park and cantaloupe and watermelon in other parts of the state. He quit school at the age of 15 and got a job as a dishwasher in a local restaurant to help support his mother and younger brother. He later worked in the oil industry and in construction, rising to the rank of foreman on a ranch in Arizona where he built corrals for Holstein cows.

In 1995, Smith completed his G.E.D. and in 1996, he joined the Army, specializing in military intelligence. That same year, he met and married his wife Teresa.

Smith planned to make a career in the military, but on his second enlistment he was injured to the point he received an honorable discharge.

After the military, the Smiths, who now had a young son, stayed in Arizona where David worked for various places while going to college, earning first his associate's degree and then his bachelor's degree in business management. At the end of his fourth year in school, Smith's wife gave birth to twin boys.

It was at this point, the Smiths decided to move back to Oklahoma and raise their sons like David was raised, "with Oklahoma manners and in God's country."

In 2018, Smith felt God tell him to run for state office. He's served as his district's state representative since that time, championing rural and veterans' issues.

As part of his work in office, Smith started an annual campout for veterans and their families. He began a program with local schools in which students draw Christmas cards that are distributed to veterans' nursing homes throughout the state. He started Reading with the Representative, a program in which he visits a school each Friday to read to kindergartners. He works with the 917 Society to distribute free pocket-sized U.S. Constitution's to all eighth-graders, He also started an essay contest for high school seniors in each county within his district. The winners receive a $500 scholarship toward college or a trade school of their choice.

The Smiths live in Arpelar and are proud members of the Arpelar Church of the Nazarene.