Princella Smith, 26, will announce on Saturday that she is running for Congress in Arkansas's 1st District. Some would say she is too young. Others might point to other potential hurdles: She's running in eastern Arkansas, a district that hasn't elected a Republican since 1872 in a Southern state that has never elected a black person to a congressional or state-wide office.
"I think I'm the person to do this," Smith said. "I'm going to tell people to come on board with me, listen to these ideas, and that we can get people excited again about the Republican Party."
If Smith wins, she will be the first black Republican female in Congress.
Democratic Rep. Marion Berry, a Blue Dog, has held the seat since 1997. Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln previously represented the mostly rural district. In January, Berry announced that he would not seek re-election. Three Democrats have thrown their hats into the primary ring.
Republican Rick Crawford, who runs a radio station, is running against Smith. Crawford has garnered the endorsements of former governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Asa Hutchinson, who served three times in Congress, worked as director for the Drug Enforcement Agency and served as the first under secretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security during the Bush administration.
But Smith has her own high-profile network.
In her first Washington job, she worked for RNC chairman's Michael Steele's failed 2005 Senate campaign. Steele introduced her to Newt Gingrich, who hired her to work in the communications department for his American Solutions. More recently, she has worked as an aide to freshman Louisiana Republican Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao.
Smith even spent a summer bunking at the house of former RNC chair Ed Gillespie and his wife, Cathy, when Smith worked at the Department of Labor. Smith calls Mary Matalin her "big sister." Matalin calls her "little sister." |