Andy Smith (Minnesota politician)
Andrew Smith (born May 24, 1991) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Smith represents District 25B in southeastern Minnesota, which includes downtown Rochester in Olmsted County. Early life, education and career Smith attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, earning a bachelor's degree in theology. He then attended Westminster Seminary California for his Master of divinity. In 2019, Smith opened Gray Duck Theater in Rochester, a microcinema that showed independent and retro films. The theater permanently closed in February 2023 due to challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, with Smith filing for bankruptcy in April 2023. He and his wife also own a pair of bookstores in Rochester. Minnesota House of Representatives Smith was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2022. He first ran after legislative redistricting and after one-term DFL incumbent Liz Boldon announced she would run for a seat in the Minnesota Senate. Smith serves on the Economic Development Finance and Policy, Health Finance and Policy, Sustainable Infrastructure Policy, and Taxes Committees. Political positions In January 2023, after a hearing on a bill codifying the right to an abortion , activists