FLORENCE, Miss. (AP) - Rob Smith, a Democrat who served 24 years in the Mississippi Legislature, has died after a long illness. He was 66.
Smith died Saturday at his home in Florence, according to Chancellor Funeral Home.
Services are 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Richland.
Smith, who owned a real estate business in Rankin County, was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1979 and served four years. He won a seat in the state Senate in 1983 and served 20 years in a district encompassing parts of Copiah, Covington, Rankin and Simpson counties. He wrote a law that provided free car tags to Purple Heart recipients.
Smith ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 1996, state treasurer in 2003 and secretary of state in 2007.
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