[3] Smerchanski was a successful businessman, and was a leading organizer in the Manitoba Liberal Party long before he first ran for office himself.
When Douglas Campbell resigned as Liberal leader in 1961, Smerchanski entered the race to succeed him and initially emerged as the frontrunner.
He first ran for the Manitoba legislature in the 1962 provincial election, and defeated NDP incumbent John Hawryluk by 289 votes in the north-end Winnipeg constituency of Burrows.
He served in the parliamentary opposition for the next four years, but lost his seat by almost 1,000 votes to NDP candidate Ben Hanuschak in the 1966 election.
He served as a backbench supporter of Pierre Trudeau's government for four years, and lost to PC candidate Jake Epp in the federal election of 1972.