State Assembly candidate Jeremy Smith visits Menifee

Republican Jeremy Smith made a public appearance in Menifee on Tuesday and spoke with residents about his campaign for the California Assembly District 67 seat.

Smith, 31, has served on the Canyon Lake City Council since 2018. He attended Tuesday's Menifee mayoral campaign kickoff for Bill Zimmerman along with several other dignitaries. That included Murrieta City Councilman Kelly Seyarto, who is running against Smith for the seat that will be vacated by Melissa Melendez.

Smith's campaign platform theme is "Conservative Principles: Common Sense Solutions". He emphasizes the need for local control in government and opposes new taxes. A small business owner who operates a hotel in Wrightwood in addition to his other ventures, Smith currently serves on the Riverside Transit Authority, Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority, and League of California Cities.

Since recently announcing his run in a short campaign for the Assembly Seat (the primary is March 3), Smith has received endorsements from State Senator Mike Morrell and several local City Council members, including Zimmerman and Lesa Sobek in Menifee.

"I'm not doing this for me at all," Smith said. "I've got two beautiful daughters and a wife at home. We’re doing this as a family. We believe we’re called to lead, so we’re doing this to stop forward.

"We've gotten so much done in the last year and a half. It’s a short campaign. We’ll see what happens."

Smith was asked whether he considered his campaign an uphill challenge against Seyarto, who recently received the endorsement of Melendez.

"Kelly’s a great guy," Smith said about Seyarto. "I didn’t know he was running. In fact, he encouraged me to run about two weeks before I filed.

"I don’t have anything bad to say about Kelly. We’ll let the community decide. I’m confident because of all the endorsements we’ve gotten. We have over 15. That's pretty good for just getting into this."

Smith has the endorsement of the entire Canyon Lake City Council as well as Lake Elsinore council member Bob Magee and Wildomar council members Bridgett Moore and Joseph Morabito.

Other candidates for the 67th District seat are Democrat Jerry Carlos, Lake Elsinore Mayor Steve Manos (Republican), and Nick Pardue (Republican).