Rusty Smith

Former Winona mayor Kenneth Russell Smith on Oct. 10 announced his campaign for Smith County Commissioner Precinct 3.

Smith works for Brookshire’s Grocery Company as an IT Manager in their retail and corporate business. Before Brookshire’s, he worked in a similar role for Trane for 21 years. Smith has been a volunteer firefighter for 12 years with the Winona Volunteer Fire Department. During his career, he served as assistant chief for the department, which was his first exposure to management.

He began his volunteer career in 1994 and retired in 2006 after being elected mayor of the City of Winona. Smith was first elected to the position of Alderman for the City of Winona in May 2000 and served three terms for six years.

“I enjoyed it so much I decided to run for mayor in 2006, and I held that office four terms for eight years,” Smith said. “The primary driver behind my decision to run for mayor was that I felt we could accomplish many great things for the City of Winona.”

Over those eight years, many city improvements were completed, including significant upgrades to the water system, including a 100,000-gallon water tower, the replacement of almost half of the city water lines and the installation of a generator for water wells to provide water to the city even during extended power outages, according to a campaign announcement.

Under Smith’s leadership, the police department grew from one officer to four, including a school resource officer the City of Winona contracted to Winona ISD, according to the announcement. A new building was procured to serve as city hall, the police department and our municipal court.

The old city hall was remodeled into a new community center, and the property next door was purchased to construct a city park.

“I have considered running for county commissioner for a while. I believe my 14 years of experience in municipal government would benefit Smith County and allow me to hit the ground running when elected to this position,” Smith said. “I look forward to putting my experience to work for the voters of Smith County Precinct 3.”

Smith was born in Shreveport on July 4, 1970, and moved to Texas in the third grade. He graduated from Tyler Junior College in 1998 with an associate degree in computer science specializing in computer networking.

“I was part of the first class for a computer industry certification course taught on campus for Novell Networking,” he added.

He is 53 and has been married to his wife, Teresa, for 31 years. The couple has two daughters: Magen, who lives in Tyler with her husband Andrew and their daughter, and Shannon, who also lives in Tyler.