David Brock Smith

Smith was born in Port Orford, Oregon, and describes himself as a third-generation Southwest Oregon resident; his campaign website says he is the son of Frank and Bonnie Smith, both raised in Port Orford.[1][2] He earned an associate degree from Southwestern Oregon Community College and a bachelor's degree from Southern Oregon University.[1] After working in the culinary industry in the Rogue Valley, he returned home to take over the family's Port Orford restaurant, the Port & Starboard, from his parents, according to his campaign website.[1][2]

Smith served on the Port Orford City Council, including as president, on the school board and the Curry County Planning Commission, and as president of the North Curry County Chamber of Commerce; his campaign website also lists service on other local boards before he ran for the legislature.[1][2][4] In a January 8, 2021, press release on the events at the U.S. Capitol, Smith, then a state representative, called the breach of the Capitol "intolerable and disgraceful" and said he condemned those actions. The release quoted U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz as saying that a change in Pennsylvania voting procedures by a non-legislative body contributed to a widespread loss of faith in the integrity of the 2020 election, and Smith said that the Oregon letter he had signed was not an act of sedition.[5] He was elected to the Curry County Board of Commissioners in 2012.[4] He was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 2016 from District 1, succeeding Wayne Krieger, and served from 2017 to 2023; in the 2021-2022 session he was vice chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee.[1] Smith was appointed to the Oregon State Senate for District 1 in January 2023, succeeding Dallas Heard, and won election to a full term in 2024 over Lupe Preciado-McAlister. He won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate on May 19, 2026.[1][4] During the campaign, he said he was running to bring a rural voice to Washington.[1][2] He received 38.7% of the vote to Jeff Merkley's 58.1%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[3]