Ada L. Smith
Ada L. Smith | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New York State Senate | |
| In office January 4, 1989 – December 31, 2006 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas J. Bartosiewicz |
| Succeeded by | Shirley Huntley |
| Constituency | 20th district (1989–1992) 12th district (1993–2002) 10th district (2003–2006) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 18, 1945 Amherst County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | March 10, 2025 |
| Party | Democratic |
Ada Lavern Smith (April 18, 1945 – March 10, 2025) was an American politician from New York. A Democrat, Smith served in the New York State Senate from 1989 to 2006.
In 2004, Smith was removed from a Senate leadership post following a criminal conviction that arose from an incident at an Albany parking garage. She was convicted of misdemeanor harassment in 2006 after throwing hot coffee onto a member of her staff. Following the coffee attack, Senate Minority Leader David Paterson stripped Smith of a stipend and a state-issued vehicle on the grounds that she had engaged in "a pattern of inappropriate, unprofessional and often abusive behavior". She was defeated by Shirley Huntley in a Democratic primary later that year.