Princella Smith

Princella Denise Smith(born October 12, 1983)^[1] is an African-American Republican political activist and politician from Wynne in Cross County in eastern Arkansas. In 2010, she ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas' 1st congressional district.^[2]

At the age of twenty, she spoke in prime time at the 2004 Republican National Convention held in New York City to re-nominate the Bush-Cheney ticket. She beat a thousand other entrants in an MTV essay contest for the privilege of speaking at the convention. Her status as a young black Republican woman drew national attention.^[3] Smith had earlier worked as an intern for the late Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, who as lieutenant governor of her state inspired her to become a Republican activist.^[2] She had early experience as a public speaker as governor of Girls State while in high school.^[2]

In 2006, she worked for the unsuccessful United States Senate campaign for then Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele of Maryland, an African-American who later served as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. She has been the communication director for Republican former U.S. Representative Joseph Cao of New Orleans, Louisiana, and an intern for former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Following her unsuccessful run for Congress she became the director of education for the Arkansas Secretary of State, Mark Martin. She resigned that post in April 2011 after her arrest and brief incarceration for driving with a suspended driver's license.^[4] She now blogs for the Huffington Post and works as a motivational speaker and educational consultant in Washington, D.C.^[5]

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