Rachel Smith, "one of the rising stars in election administration," is leaving her post as Anoka County's elections manager to serve as program director of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute's Election Administration Project.
"The close and spirited election between Norm Coleman and Al Franken makes plain the importance of expert and nonpartisan election administration," said Larry Jacobs, director of the institutes's Center for Policy and Governance. In calling Smith a "rising star," Jacobs noted that Smith would work with national and state election officials."
Smith, 31, said of her new job that she's "pleased to have a role in supporting the profession of election administration." That's not hyperbole. A lawyer, she spurned the courtrooms for a career managing elections.
Before graduating from the University of Minnesota, she served as an intern at the Minnesota secretary of state's office, working in the election office. Not long after graduating from William Mitchell College of Law, Smith was working with the Ramsey County elections staff.
Smith was hired as Anoka County's elections manager in 2005. She teaches a political science course at the university. She and her husband, Matthew Smith, a lawyer, have a daughter, Eleanor, 1 year. She says she always votes absentee because she never has time to vote on Election Day.
Paul Levy • 612-673-4419
