Lloyd Smythe

From Usgovsimulation

Lloyd Smythe
Congressman from Michigan's 14th District
In Office: 2009
Preceded by	John Conyers
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Mayor of Detroit
In Office: 2005-2009
Preceded by	Kwame Kilpatrick
Succeeded by	Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.
Born	October 11, 1964 Detroit, Michigan
Political Party	Democrat
Spouse	Abbie Smythe
Profession	{{{Profession}}}
Religion	Christian

Lloyd Smythe (born October 11, 1964) is the current Congressman for Michigan's 14th District. He is the former Mayor of Detroit.

Biography

Lloyd Albert William Smythe was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 11, 1964. His parents, Derek and Dianne Smythe, were solidly middle class. The family did not have much money to spare, with Derek and Dianne making their wages from being teachers, so the family did not have all the things they would have liked. Dianne was a teacher at elementary school while Derek taught Math in high school. One thing provided Lloyd with his set of values; his parent's dedication to giving him a bright, solid, future.

While growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, Lloyd grew up very interested in politics. Most kids at his age either didn't have a true understanding of politics or just automatically supported whomever their parents did, but Lloyd somewhat enjoyed studying local elections and eventually went on to major in political science. Some ascribe this to the fact that as a young child, Lloyd often would overhear his parents talk about the local elections and how they would affect a number of things around them, such as the quality of the schools that his parent's were employed at.

As a decent student, he earned middling grades. He never had an incredibly strong academic record, and teachers remember him as a B student, who did most of his work all of the time, but wasn't necessarily as dedicated as most A students were. History proved rather intriguing for the young child, enticing his young interest in politics. In high school he began introductory economic and marketing classes, using this knowledge later on in his life. He finished High School with decent grades, earning around a 3.3 GPA and enough credentials to go onto the University of Michigan.

Lloyd at 18 decided to apply to Harvard University, and the University of Michigan. He was accepted into the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and was wait listed at the others, and so decided to take the opportunity to go to the University of Michigan, where he double-majored in economics and international relations. He graduated with a B.A. in both economics and B.A in international relations in spring 1986. While in college, he joined the College Democrats as a precinct worker and helped Democrats in local campaigns around the area. It came to a surprise to many that Smythe was a Democrat, mainly because he was seen as fiercely independent by his peers and family.

While in college, he joined the Air Force ROTC, which paid for his tuition. As per his ROTC requirement, he served in the Air Force after college. He did 8 years in active service as a pilot, doing missions in the first Gulf War in Iraq in 1990. He completed his service in 1994 as a Captain in the Air Force. He returned to civilian life in Detroit after his service time was up.

After retiring from the armed services, Lloyd opened a small business outside Detroit selling various goods, mainly sporting equipment which he sold to local schools for Physical Education programs. His business struggled early on, but eventually became a highly efficient small business in the Detroit Metro area and netted a lot of money for Lloyd, money he would later use in his Mayoral campaign.

In 1996, he married Abbie Harrison and soon had a child, Ian Smythe, in 1997. The family moved to a bigger home outside Detroit and Lloyd became interested in political activism. As a Democrat, in the state, he felt that Michigan fit the progressive Midwestern revolution for Democrats in the late 1990s and early 2000s. When he could, he donated to Democratic candidates and even worked as a grassroots volunteer for Democratic candidates. He wasn't ready to take the next step and become a candidate until 2005.

During President Bush's first term, Democrats asked the businessman to run for Mayor of Detroit. After some thought, Lloyd decided to shift his focus to politics and entered the race to succeed Kwame Kilpatrick. He turned over management of his business to a board and put his investments into a blind trust, thus removing him from doing anything with his business and freeing up his time to concentrate on his new career. He would finally sell the business upon his election to the Mayoralty in 2005.

Lloyd ran for the job of Mayor of Detroit in 2005. By hitting a lot of leather, and through grassroots support, as well as relying on his connections that he had acquired as a volunteer and activist, he managed to raise the funds and garner support to become the Democratic nominee. In this liberal city, he won with 65 percent of the vote in the election. He emerged as a strong social and fiscal liberal, and focused mainly as Mayor on increasing social programs in the city, increasing funding to its schools, anti corruption programs, and worked to end Detroit's transportation issues. Lloyd was re-elected in 2008, continuing his programs until 2009, when a seat in Congress opened up. Smythe weighed his options, but after a short time announced his intentions to run for Congress. Smythe won the primaries narrowly, by only a slight margin, but won with 62 percent of the vote in the general election.

On social issues, economic issues, and foreign policy, Lloyd Smythe is generally liberal, being pro-choice, pro-civil unions, and a dove, for the most part, although he seems slight hawkish on issues like Darfur. He also supports fair taxation and wants to ensure that the rich and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes. In the House, Lloyd is serving as a quiet operator rather than a voluble one and often yields the limelight to others to maximize his effectiveness.

Elections

Election Result for Mayor of Detroit, 2005
Party		Candidate	Status	%
	Republican	John Franklin	Challenger	35%
	Democratic	Lloyd Smythe	Challenger	65%

Election Result for Michigan's 14th District Congressional Seat, 2008
Party		Candidate	Status	%
	Republican	Nick Fawkes	Challenger	38%
	Democratic	Lloyd Smythe	Challenger	62%