Samuel G. Coppersmith
| Sam Coppersmith | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's 1st district |
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In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | John Jacob Rhodes III |
| Succeeded by | Matt Salmon |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 22, 1955 Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Alma mater |
Harvard University (1976); Yale Law School (1982) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Website | liberaldesert.blogspot.com (personal blog) |
Samuel G. "Sam" Coppersmith (born May 22, 1955) is an attorney and former Democratic United States Congressman from Arizona from 1993 to 1995.
Coppersmith was born May 22, 1955 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1976, and then worked as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He returned to the U.S. then earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1982. After law school, he clerked for Judge William C. Canby, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and served as an assistant to the Mayor of Phoenix.
In 1992, Coppersmith won the Democratic primary in Arizona's 1st District and faced three-term Republican Jay Rhodes in the general election. On paper, Coppersmith faced extremely long odds. This East Valley-based district had been in Republican hands without interruption since 1953, and the Democrats had only made two serious bids for the seat since then. It had seemingly become even more Republican when many Hispanic neighborhoods in Phoenix were shifted to the 2nd District during redistricting. Also, popular Senator John McCain (who had represented the district from 1983 to 1987) was running for re-election. Rhodes, however, was hobbled by ethics problems, and Coppersmith defeated him in what was later called one of the biggest upsets in Arizona political history.
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