# Brandon Smith

Brandon Smith is a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate for district 30.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Kentucky Senate, district 30
- Serving since: 2008-02-05
- Current term: KY 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/209d5334-d4a2-45f3-b910-0cd52f96dd4e

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/209d5334-d4a2-45f3-b910-0cd52f96dd4e (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Smith missed 12% of 702 roll calls, the lowest attendance of 38 in the Kentucky Senate (average 97.0%).

## What Smith says (KY 2025–26 session)

4 classified statements: 4 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Smith | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.3% | 273 of 355 |
| Policy criticism | 25.0% | 9.5% | 30 of 355 |
| Policy discussion | 25.0% | 37.3% | 255 of 355 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 2.3% | 311 of 355 |
| Credit claiming | 0.0% | 15.4% | 342 of 355 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.3% | 261 of 355 |

Most discussed policy areas: Energy 100% (State Senate Republicans 5.8%); Labor and Employment 100% (State Senate Republicans 3.2%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State Senate Republicans 6.2%); Armed Forces and National Security 0% (State Senate Republicans 6.5%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 0% (State Senate Republicans 5.0%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.24 (standard error 0.03), from 155 donors and 296 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 32% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (KY 2025–26 session)

702 roll calls. Attendance 88% (Kentucky Senate 97.0%). Party unity 94.1% (95.3%). 13 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · PASS HB 664 W/ scs1 sfa2 sfta2 · HB 664 AN ACT relating to the operation of a motor vehicle and declaring an emergency. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB664/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage · HB 48 AN ACT relating to education. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB48/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Pass · SB 181 AN ACT relating to children. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/SB181/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage · SJR 55 A JOINT RESOLUTION directing Kentucky's public postsecondary institutions to combat antisemitism. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/SJR55/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage HB 622 W/ fccr1 · HB 622 AN ACT relating to fiscal matters and declaring an emergency. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB622/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage · HB 437 AN ACT relating to alcoholic beverages. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB437/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · PASS HCR 22 · HCR 22 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION declaring that nuclear power generation is a clean and dispatchable means of providing baseload electricity to the residents… · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HCR22/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage · HB 555 AN ACT relating to local government financial practices. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB555/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage · HB 618 AN ACT relating to alcoholic beverages. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB618/
- 2025-03-28 · voted yea · Final Passage · HB 622 AN ACT relating to fiscal matters and declaring an emergency. · pass · https://openstates.org/ky/bills/2025RS/HB622/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $175.3K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 91% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2025-03-31 · Post on X · https://x.com/Smithkysenate/status/1906687958456901734
- 2025-03-12 · Post on X · https://x.com/Smithkysenate/status/1899614011102318836
- 2025-02-17 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/Smithkysenate/status/1891471803366691282
- 2025-02-15 · Post on X · https://x.com/Smithkysenate/status/1890903191102926905

## Links

- Official site: https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=130
- X: https://x.com/Smithkysenate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Senator-Brandon-Smith-100064786806985/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/209d5334-d4a2-45f3-b910-0cd52f96dd4e