Christian Wise Smith

Christian Wise Smith's career experience includes working as an attorney.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am an attorney, prosecutor, and public servant who has spent my career advocating for people written off by broken systems, because I was almost one of them.

I grew up experiencing economic insecurity firsthand. I watched my mother lose custody of me when I was fifteen. I was kicked out of school at seventeen. What saved me was a second chance and people who believed in me when I did not believe in myself.

I became the first in my family to graduate from college, earning a Bachelor's degree from Ohio University and a Master's degree from Troy University. I worked at Grady Health System, served as Chief of Staff for Atlanta City Council District 5, and prosecuted cases at both the Atlanta Municipal Court and the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.

As a prosecutor, I learned the most important lesson of my career: you cannot prosecute your way out of poverty. The justice system arrives too late. The real work happens upstream, in the systems that determine whether a person has a job, a fair wage, and a real shot at stability.

That is why I am running for Georgia Labor Commissioner. I am not running to manage an office. I am running to transform it into a genuine advocate for Georgia's working families.

I am also a proud husband to my wife, Keonda. Everything I do is rooted in the belief that every Georgian deserves to work with dignity and live with security.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I know this system because it cracked on me.

I grew up experiencing economic insecurity firsthand. I watched my family struggle with systems that were designed to be navigated, not served by. That experience drove me to become an attorney, a prosecutor, and a public servant. Georgia's working families deserve a Labor Commissioner who understands their reality, not just their paperwork.Georgia's workers are getting a raw deal, and I will be their advocate.

Georgia's minimum wage has been frozen at $5.15 since 1997. Our maximum unemployment benefit is just $365 a week for only 14 weeks. Career Centers across the state have been cut from 53 to 33. The current administration has managed this office into decline. As Commissioner, I will use the full authority of this office to advocate for wages that let families breathe, benefits that actually help in a crisis, and job training programs that pay workers while they learn.This office can transform lives if we lead it boldly.

Most people don't know what the Labor Commissioner does. I'm running because I do, and because I know how much more it can do. From apprenticeship programs to workplace safety enforcement to modernizing our broken unemployment system, this office touches every working Georgian. I'm not running to manage bureaucratic decline. I'm running to deliver a New Deal for Georgia's working families.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Economic security and workforce development are the policy areas closest to my heart, and they have been since long before I decided to run for this office.

I grew up experiencing economic insecurity firsthand. I know what it feels like when the systems that are supposed to help you treat you like a burden instead of a person. That experience shaped everything I care about in public policy.

First, I am passionate about making sure work actually pays. Georgia's minimum wage has been frozen at $5.15 since 1997. Rent is up. Groceries are up. Energy bills are up. But the floor under Georgia workers has not moved in nearly three decades. That is not an accident. That is a policy choice, and it is one I intend to challenge every single day as Com

Christian Wise Smith did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Christian Wise Smith did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Christian Wise Smith did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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