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Noah Smith Will Fight for Campbell County Despite the Outside Smears
CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN. (WLAF)- When I announced my campaign for Tennessee State Representative for District 36, I did so with a simple purpose: to serve the people of Campbell, Claiborne, and Union Counties with integrity, accountability, and conservative leadership. I am running because I believe our district deserves a representative who listens to the people, not the political establishment.
Before anything else, I am a Christian. My faith in Jesus Christ is not simply one part of my campaign. It is the foundation of who I am. Every decision I make is guided by the values I have learned through Scripture: honesty, humility, service, compassion, and standing firm for what is right. I believe our nation and our communities are strongest when we place God at the center of our lives. Those values have shaped me throughout my life and continue to guide me as I seek to serve the people of District 36.
I was born and raised in Campbell County and have dedicated my life to serving this community. My parents Michael and Joye Smith raised me in a God-fearing, Christian household. And my grandparents RL Ayers and Roy Smith, along with my great uncle Hack Ayers, instilled within me the core values of our Republican Party. In 2018, as the youngest elected school board member in Tennessee, I worked to improve public education while overseeing a budget of more than $50 million and supporting hundreds of teachers and staff. Today, I serve as a commercial airline pilot, where safety, responsibility, and sound decision making are required every single day. Those experiences have taught me that leadership is about earning trust, accepting responsibility, and putting others before yourself.
My campaign is built around conservative principles that I believe reflect the values of the people I hope to represent. I support President Donald Trump and the America First agenda. I will always defend our Second Amendment rights and have received the highest rating from the NRA for political candidates. I am unapologetically pro-life because I believe every child is created in the image of God and deserves the opportunity to live. I support secure elections, responsible government spending, protecting our constitutional freedoms, reducing taxes, and fighting to eliminate the 4% grocery tax that continues to burden Tennessee families. I also believe it is time to enact meaningful term limits and end the culture of career politicians who spend decades in elected office while becoming increasingly disconnected from the people they represent.
Throughout this campaign, I have traveled thousands of miles across District 36, attending community events, church gatherings, civic organizations, veterans breakfasts, business ribbon cuttings, local festivals, and countless meet and greets. My goal has never been simply to ask for votes. My goal has been to earn trust by listening to the concerns of families, business owners, teachers, farmers, first responders, veterans, and working Tennesseans.
Unfortunately, this campaign has recently entered a different phase.
In recent weeks, voters across District 36 have received political mail pieces and text messages smearing my name from a Political Action Committee outside of our state that is supporting my opponent. One mailer even portrayed me flying paper airplanes, an image that many supporters viewed as dismissive and intended to ridicule my career as a professional airline pilot rather than engage in a serious discussion about the issues facing our district. They have labeled me a “liberal” and “anti-Trump” which couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I am the only candidate in this race that has supported President Trump since 2015. Like many modern political campaigns, these communications focused heavily on criticism rather than offering voters a comparison of competing visions for the future.
Negative campaigning has become increasingly common in American politics. While every organization has the right to participate in the political process, I believe voters deserve campaigns centered on ideas, solutions, and respectful debate instead of personal attacks and political smears.
I have made a deliberate decision not to allow these attacks to define my campaign. Instead, I remain focused on meeting voters face to face, discussing the issues that matter, and presenting my vision for District 36. I believe our communities deserve representatives who spend more time listening than attacking.
This election is ultimately about more than two candidates. It is about what kind of leadership we want in Nashville. Do we want a representative who remains accountable to the people they serve, or a representative who has become part of a political system that often rewards longevity over results? That question belongs to the voters.
If elected, I will work every day to ensure District 36 has a strong, independent voice in the Tennessee General Assembly. I will fight for our rural communities, protect our constitutional freedoms, support law enforcement, fix our education system, stop the woke DEI madness, encourage economic opportunity, defend the unborn, and always remember that elected office is a public trust, not a career.
I ask voters to look beyond the false advertisements, the AI-generated mail pieces, and the political noise. Judge me by my character, my record of service, my willingness to listen, and my commitment to this community. If you do, I believe you will see that this campaign has always been about serving God, showing up for our community, and fighting for the people of District 36!
Early voting starts tomorrow and I would be honored to earn your vote! Election Day for the Republican Primary is on August 6th.
(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 7/16/2026-6AM-PAID)