J. Brian Smith

J. Brian Smith is Chief Executive Officer of Smith & Harroff, Inc., a public affairs consulting, advertising and campaign management firm located in the Washington, D.C. area.

Born in 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts, Smith graduated from Loyola College of Baltimore, Maryland in 1971 with a B.A. in Political Science. Upon graduation he was employed at the Republican National Committee and worked there through the 1972 presidential campaign.

In 1973, Smith co-founded Smith & Harroff, Inc. Since then, Smith & Harroff, Inc. has grown into one of the fifty largest public relations firms in the nation (based on annual income). The firm has had clients located throughout the U.S., as well as in Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom. In 1993 and 1994 consecutively, Smith & Harroff was named one of the five leading firms in the Washington, D.C. area by Inside PR, a trade publication. 

In late 1973, Smith took a leave of absence from Smith & Harroff to serve as Press Secretary to House Republican Leader John J. Rhodes of Arizona and worked in this capacity throughout the historic debate over Watergate and impeachment of the President. During this period, Rhodes was credited by the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations with having one of the most effective and efficient press operations on Capitol Hill (based on interviews with reporters). Smith rejoined Smith & Harroff full-time in 1977.

During his career, Jay Smith has appeared as a guest on numerous television and radio programs, usually to provide political commentary. He has appeared on NBC's TODAY program, William F. Buckley, Jr.'s FIRING LINE, the MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour, and many others. 

Smith has authored numerous articles on a range of subjects for such publications as Newsweek, The Nation, The Washingtonian, Campaigns & Elections and others. He assisted Rep. John Rhodes in writing The Futile System (EPM Publications, copyright 1976), a book about congressional reform that The Washington Post called "prerequisite reading for all who would understand the House of Representatives." Rhodes recently described Jay Smith as "one of the most effective and knowledgeable public relations experts in the nation."

In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of Smith & Harroff, Inc., Smith presides over one of the most successful political campaign firms in the nation. Having won over 100 campaigns contributed to what the Phoenix Gazette calls "a reputation for winning that rivals (Penn State Coach) Joe Paterno's." Among the many political clients associated with the firm over the years are: Arizona Governor Jane Dee Hull, U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona, former Maine Governor John McKernan, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, and numerous others.

In The Political Report (2/10/89), Senator McCain described Jay Smith as "The smartest, pure political mind I've met." 

Jay Smith resides in Alexandria, Virginia. He has four children: Maris, Daniel, Brian and Michael. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and the American Association of Political Consultants.