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Samuel Coppersmith

(1955 - )

Samuel G. Coppersmith is a Jewish American politician and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Coppersmith (born May 22, 1955) was born in Cambria County, Pennsyvania. He received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1976 and then worked as a foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department from 1977 to 1979. He earned his J.D. from Yale University in 1982 and clerked for Judge William C. Canby, Jr., in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, from 1982 to 1983.

In 1984, Coppersmith worked as an assistant to Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard and then served as a member of chair of the Phoenix Board of Adjustment from 1989 to 1992.

Elected to Congress in 1992, Coppersmith beat out incumbent Republican Jay Rhodes in what was later called one of the biggest upsets in Arizona politiical history. Coppersmith decided to not run for re-election in 1994, opting instead to challenge fellow Congressman Jon Kyl for an empty spot in the U.S. Senate. Coppersmith lost the election to Kyl.

After leaving Congress, Coppersmith spent two years as the chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party. He is currently an attorney specializing in real estate law and a managing partner of the law firm of Coppersmith Schermer & Brockelman PLC.


Sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; Wikipedia