Lloyd Smucker

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Lloyd Smucker
Lloyd Smucker Official Congressional Photo.jpg
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byJoe Pitts
Constituency16th district (2017–2019)
11th district (2019–present)
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 13th district
In office
January 6, 2009 – November 30, 2016
Preceded byGib Armstrong
Succeeded byScott Martin
Personal details
Born
Lloyd Kenneth Smucker

(1964-01-23) January 23, 1964 (age 59)
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Cindy Smucker
​
(m. 1992)​
Children3
EducationLebanon Valley College
Franklin and Marshall College
Signature
WebsiteHouse website

Lloyd Kenneth Smucker[1] (born January 23, 1964) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district, which includes Lancaster County and most of southern York County. He is a member of the Republican Party and previously represented the 16th district until it was redrawn by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2018 due to gerrymandering. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 13th district from 2009 to 2016.

Biography

Smucker was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Daniel and Arie Smucker.[2] At the time of his birth, the family belonged to the Old Order Amish, but they left the community when he was five years old.[3] After graduating from Lancaster Mennonite High School in 1981, he attended Lebanon Valley College and Franklin & Marshall College where he earned credits in liberal arts but did not complete a degree.[3] For 25 years, he served as president of the Smucker Company, a family-owned commercial construction firm in Smoketown[4] which received $4.83 million in PPP loans in 2020[5] and 2021[6] which were subsequently forgiven.

Pennsylvania Senate

Smucker was a member of the West Lampeter Township Planning Commission for four years before serving two terms as a township supervisor.[4] In 2008, after 23-year incumbent Gib Armstrong decided to retire, Smucker entered the four-way Republican primary to succeed him, receiving 47% of the vote.[7] In the general election, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Lancaster City Council member José E. Urdaneta, by a margin of 57%-43%.[8]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

On November 8, 2016, Smucker defeated Christina Hartman with 53 percent of the vote in the race to replace the retiring Joe Pitts in Congress.[9] He was sworn in to represent Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district on January 3, 2017.[10]

A new congressional map imposed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court renumbered Smucker's district as the 11th district. It picked up the sliver of Lancaster County that had previously been in the 7th district, while losing its shares of Chester and Berks counties. To make up for the loss in population, it was shifted to the west, absorbing most of the more rural eastern portion of York County.[11] The old 16th had historically been one of the most Republican districts in Pennsylvania, but the Democratic trend in the areas of the district closer to Philadelphia had resulted in close races at the presidential level since the turn of the millennium. John McCain only carried the old 16th with 51 percent of the vote in 2008,[12] while Mitt Romney won it with 52 percent in 2012[13] and Donald Trump won it with 51 percent in 2016.[14] According to Nate Cohn of The New York Times, these trends theoretically left Smucker vulnerable in a Democratic wave.[11]

In contrast, the new 11th is significantly more rural and Republican than its predecessor. Had it existed in 2016, Trump would have won it with over 60 percent of the vote, which would have been his fifth-best showing in the state.[15] According to Cohn, the Republican-controlled state legislature had placed the more Democratic areas of Chester and Berks counties into the 16th in order to protect Republican incumbents in neighboring districts. As Cohn put it, the loss of those areas and the addition of part of York County had the effect of making what was already a "naturally Republican" district even more so.[11]

As expected, Smucker won a second term handily, defeating Democratic challenger Jess King with 59 percent of the vote.[16]

Tenure

During the presidency of Donald Trump, Smucker voted in line with the president's stated position 94% of the time.[17] As of September 2021, Smucker had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 14.3% of the time.[18]

Smucker supported the American Health Care Act, the GOP's legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[19]

On September 24, 2014, Smucker voted against Pennsylvania senate bill SB1182 which would legalize medical cannabis in Pennsylvania.[20] Smucker voted to repeal provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.[21] He has voted for increases in military spending.[21] He supported legislation to punish sanctuary cities.[21] In 2017, Smucker voted for a budget that proposed cutting Medicare by $537 billion, and giving seniors the opportunity to enroll in private plans in competition with Medicare.[22]

On January 6, 2021, Smucker voted to overturn the electoral college results that would make Joe Biden president. Pennsylvania cast its electoral ballots for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.[23]

Political positions

Abortion

Smucker supports pro-life legislation.[24] He supports including fetuses among those given civil rights protections per the 14th amendment and introduced a bill to protect "infant survivors of abortion".[25]

Racial and LGBT rights

Smucker opposes gay marriage and voted against federally protecting gay and interracial marriage.[26] Smucker voted against allowing private lawsuits against schools who racially discriminate.[25]

Taxes and federal spending

Smucker opposes an income tax increase, opposes federal spending, and supports lowering taxes as a means of promoting economic growth.[27]

Education

Smucker opposes requiring states to adopt federal education standards.[28]

Environment

Smucker opposes the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and assisting rural renewable energy. He voted to loosen restrictions on predator control in the state of Alaska.[25]

Gun control

Smucker opposes gun-control legislation and voted twice against expanding background checks.[25]

Healthcare

Smucker supports repealing the Affordable Care Act and supports leaving healthcare to the states.[25]

Immigration

Smucker supports requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship and supports bans on immigration for "non-cooperating" countries.[25]

Foreign policy

Supports increased American intervention in Iraq and Syria beyond air support. He is pro-Israel and supports keeping a US embassy in Jerusalem. He supported Donald Trump's strike on Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani.[25]

Social security

Smucker supports allowing individuals to divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.[29]

Donald Trump

Smucker voted twice against impeaching Donald Trump and voted against forming the January 6th committee.[25] Smucker was endorsed by Trump in his 2022 re-election bid.[30]

Death penalty

Smucker supports capital punishment and voted in favor of expanding the federal death penalty for killings of police officers.[31]

Net neutrality

Smucker opposes net neutrality.[25]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

References

  1. ^ Member Post-Travel Disclosure Form, Committee on Ethics
  2. ^ "Pennsylvania State Senate – Lloyd K Smucker Biography". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b Writer, SAM JANESCH | Staff. "Meet Lloyd Smucker: Amish-born congressman seeking a second term on tax cuts and conservative record". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  4. ^ a b "Lloyd K. Smucker". State Senator Lloyd Smucker. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  5. ^ Willis, Moiz Syed,Derek (2020-07-07). "Smucker Company - Tracking PPP". ProPublica. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  6. ^ Willis, Moiz Syed,Derek (2020-07-07). "Smucker Company LLC - Tracking PPP". ProPublica. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  7. ^ "2008 Generalĺ Primary". Pennsylvania Department of State. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008.
  8. ^ "2008 General Election". Pennsylvania Department of State. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
  9. ^ Stuhldreher, Tim. "Lloyd Smucker beats Christina Hartman, Shawn House in 16th Congressional District race". LancasterOnline. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  10. ^ "Smucker announces committee assignments for 115th Congress" (Press release). Washington D.C.: Congressman Lloyd Smucker. January 13, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Cohn, Nate; Bloch, Matthew; Quealy, Kevin (February 19, 2018). "The New Pennsylvania House Districts Are In. We Review the Mapmakers' Choices". The Upshot. The New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  12. ^ Database of 2008 presidential election results from Swing State Project
  13. ^ Database of presidential election results under 2012 lines from Daily Kos
  14. ^ Database of 2016 presidential election results from Daily Kos
  15. ^ Daily Kos Elections presents presidential election results for Pennsylvania's new congressional map
  16. ^ Pennsylvania House results from CNN
  17. ^ Bycoffe, Aaron (January 30, 2017). "Tracking Lloyd Smucker In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  18. ^ Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (2021-04-22). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  19. ^ The New York Times (March 20, 2017). "How House Republicans Planned to Vote on the Obamacare Replacement". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  20. ^ Murphy, Jan. "Medical marijuana: How our southcentral Pa. senators voted". www.pennlive.com. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  21. ^ a b c Writer, SAM JANESCH | Staff. "Breaking down US Rep. Lloyd Smucker's record after 8 months in Congress". LancasterOnline. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  22. ^ Writer, SAM JANESCH | Staff. "Fact-checking the U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Jess King debate". LancasterOnline. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  23. ^ Yourish, Karen; Buchanan, Larry; Lu, Denise. "The 147 Republicans Who Voted To Overturn Election Results". New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Values". Congressman Lloyd Smucker. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Lloyd Smucker on the Issues". www.ontheissues.org. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  26. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (2022-07-19). "Roll Call 373 Roll Call 373, Bill Number: H. R. 8404, 117th Congress, 2nd Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  27. ^ "Values". Congressman Lloyd Smucker. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  28. ^ "Values". Congressman Lloyd Smucker. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  29. ^ "Lloyd Smucker's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)". Vote Smart. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  30. ^ "Endorsement of Congressman Lloyd Smucker". www.donaldjtrump.com. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  31. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (2017-05-18). "Roll Call 265 Roll Call 265, Bill Number: H. R. 115, 115th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  32. ^ "Ways and Means (117th Congress)". Ways and Means Committee. Retrieved 2021-04-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ "Oversight (117th Congress)". Ways and Means Committee. Retrieved 2021-04-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ "Worker & Family Support (117th Congress)". Ways and Means Committee. Retrieved 2021-04-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  35. ^ "Members". Republican Mains Street Partnership. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  36. ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved January 2, 2018.

External links

Pennsylvania State Senate
Preceded by Member of the Pennsylvania State Senate
from the 13th district
2009–2016 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district
2019–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
274th 		Succeeded by
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