Source: Editorial Board
Ruth Campbell Smith, an Asheville personal injury attorney, is a first-time candidate running to unseat Democratic state House Rep. Lindsey Prather in District 115.
Essentially, Smith’s positions have yet to be discovered on some of the most important issues facing our state, such as reproductive rights, public education funding, voting rights and gun safety. Her website’s “Issues” page includes only four sections: lower taxes, get tough on crime (where she rails against immigrants), improve education and stand up to the far left.
What we do know about Smith is that she has been a personal injury attorney for more than 20 years and in 2016 expanded her practice to include conservative causes and organizations who often file lawsuits claiming “reverse racism” – discrimination against white clients.
Her first case representing a conservative client came in September 2016 when she represented an older man accused of punching a female Democratic protester at a Trump rally in Asheville. Smith was interviewed by Breitbart News and the case made the rounds in right-wing media circles.
Following the Trump supporter’s case, Smith began accepting constitutional suits and in some cases, teamed up with the right-wing Judicial Watch foundation. She also created a group called WNC Citizens for Equality.
The group’s description:
“WNC Citizens for Equality is a volunteer coalition dedicated to defending constitutional rights to equal protection under the law. We seek to protect our citizenry from the harms of illegal racial discrimination and to preserve our society’s progress on racial equality.”
Shortly after its creation, WNC Citizens for Equality worked with Judicial Watch to sue the City of Asheville in federal court because the city helped fund a scholarship based on race.
The lawsuit was filed because, at the time, the City of Asheville Scholarship was “awarded in perpetuity to Black high school students within Asheville City Schools, with special consideration given for Black students pursuing a career in education.” A judge ruled against the city and the race requirement was removed from the scholarship criteria.
Smith has since gone on to take on several other “reverse racism” cases. In one case, she represented a group of white Asheville residents upset over the city’s Human Relations Commission’s membership rules (no more than 7 of the 15 members could be white). In another, she filed a federal civil rights complaint against a public charter school over its stated goal of having a population of at least 50% students of color and 50% of faculty and staff of color. Since filing for HD-115, Smith and her organization have lodged two federal complaints against Buncombe County for “discriminating against white students” by offering a public high school medical internship for “underrepresented, marginalized” students.
Smith, along with Judicial Watch, also took the case of Marcus O. Allen, an FBI employee who sued FBI Director Christopher Wray after he had his security clearance revoked for sharing Jan. 6 conspiracy theories in the immediate wake of the attack on the Capitol.
Whether it’s intentional or Smith actually doesn’t have any opinions on the issues she’d be tasked with taking on in the General Assembly, we know the positions of Rep. Prather.
Prather supports public education (funding it at the necessary levels while also paying our teachers, faculty and staff what they deserve), expanding access to quality and affordable health care, protecting reproductive rights, tackling the impacts of climate change on the mountains of North Carolina, expanding clean energy, and making sure North Carolinians – regardless of race, gender, age or socioeconomic status – have equal access to everything they need to thrive and live safe lives.
Prather has received endorsements from Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic, Pro-Choice North Carolina, NC League of Conservation Voters, Emily’s List and Lillian’s List, among others. Smith has no endorsements listed on her website.
