Representative Samuel G. Coppersmith

Samuel George Coppersmith (born May 22, 1955) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for Arizona’s 1st congressional district from 1993 to 1995. A member of the Democratic Party, he served one term in the United States House of Representatives, where he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Arizona constituents during a significant period in American political history.

Coppersmith was born on May 22, 1955, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He later attended Harvard University, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1976. His early professional life reflected a strong interest in international affairs and public service. Following his undergraduate studies, he joined the United States Foreign Service and served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. In that capacity, he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, gaining experience in diplomacy and international relations.

After completing his Foreign Service assignment, Coppersmith returned to the United States to pursue legal studies. He enrolled at Yale Law School and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1982. Following law school, he clerked for Judge William C. Canby Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a position that provided him with substantial exposure to federal appellate practice and constitutional issues. He then moved into local government, serving as an assistant to the Mayor of Phoenix, where he became more directly involved in municipal affairs and the practical workings of public administration in Arizona.

Coppersmith entered electoral politics in the early 1990s. In 1992, he ran for Congress in Arizona’s 1st congressional district. He won the Democratic primary and then faced three-term Republican incumbent Jay Rhodes in the general election. In a competitive race, Coppersmith defeated Rhodes and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, taking office on January 3, 1993. During his single term in Congress, from 1993 to 1995, he served as a Democratic member of the House, contributing to the legislative process and representing the concerns and priorities of his district at the national level.

In 1994, rather than seek reelection to the House, Coppersmith chose to run for the United States Senate following the decision of Senator Dennis DeConcini to retire. In the Democratic primary to succeed DeConcini, he secured the nomination by a razor-thin margin, winning by 32 votes—81,547 to 81,515—over Richard Mahoney. In the general election, Coppersmith faced Republican Congressman Jon Kyl. Despite his efforts to move from the House to the Senate, he lost the statewide race to Kyl by 14 percentage points, and his service in the House concluded on January 3, 1995.

After leaving Congress, Coppersmith remained active in party politics and public affairs in Arizona. He served for two years as chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, helping to guide party strategy and organization at the state level. At the same time, he continued to develop his legal career. By 2013, he was an attorney specializing in real estate law and a managing partner of the Phoenix-based law firm Coppersmith Schermer & Brockelman PLC. In addition to his legal and political work, he has engaged in public commentary and political analysis, including maintaining a blog titled “LiberalDesert,” through which he has written about Arizona politics and broader public policy issues.