A former Democratic member of the Missouri Senate, representing the 4th district from 2007 until 2009, Smith is an Assistant Professor of Politics and Advocacy at the New School's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy in New York City. He has also been a contributing writer for Politico, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Atlantic, Buzzfeed, and other news sources; and he was the the subject of the 2006 documentary Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

Smith previously spent a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts of conspiracy related to his involvement with the organization Voters for Truth's negative advertisements against former U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan in 2004.