Averell Smith (born November 18, 1958) is an American political adviser who has worked mainly for Democratic Party candidates and initiatives.
[2] His first job was at a legal processor on Taylor and Market Streets in San Francisco, before working as a consultant for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 1980s.
He unearthed a minor billing scandal in the Department of Water and Power involving incumbent Mayor James Hahn that helped his client Antonio Villaraigosa win the election.
[6] He was State Director for Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaigns in CA, TX and NC in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.
[8] Smith and his wife Laura Talmus started Beyond Differences,[9] a non-profit based in San Rafael, California to honor their daughter Lili Smith, who died in 2009 from complications due to Apert syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes facial and cranial disfiguration and which consequently caused her to suffer from feelings of social isolation.