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|residence=Beulah, Wyoming

|residence=Beulah, Wyoming

|religion=

|religion=

|alma_mater=[[University of Wyoming]]

|alma_mater=University of Wyoming

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}}

'''Nels Jensen Smith''' (January 29, 1939 &ndash; September 1, 2023) was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] from his native [[Wyoming]]. He was elected as a state representative in 1962 at the age of twenty-three. He was the state House Speaker in his final legislative term from 1977 to 1979. He attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie, his state's only four-year university.<ref name=death>Former Wyoming House Speaker Nels Smith Dies In Head-On Highway Crash | Your Wyoming News Source (cowboystatedaily.com), accessed December 27, 2023.</ref> His grandfather, Nels Hansen Smith (1884-1976), a native of [[South Dakota]], was the Republican 18th [[governor]] of Wyoming from 1939 to 1943.  The senior Smith  lost his bid for reelection to the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Lester C. Hunt]].<ref>Nels Hansen Smith (1884-1976) - Find a Grave Memorial, accessed December 27, 2023.</ref>

'''Nels Jensen Smith''' (January 29, 1939 &ndash; September 1, 2023) was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] from his native [[Wyoming]]. He was elected as a state representative in 1962 at the age of twenty-three. He was the state House Speaker in his final legislative term from 1977 to 1979. He attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie, his state's only four-year university.<ref name=death>Former Wyoming House Speaker Nels Smith Dies In Head-On Highway Crash | Your Wyoming News Source (cowboystatedaily.com), accessed December 27, 2023.</ref> His grandfather, Nels Hansen Smith (1884-1976), a native of [[South Dakota]], was the Republican 18th [[governor]] of Wyoming from 1939 to 1943.  The senior Smith  lost his bid for reelection to the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Lester C. Hunt]].<ref>Nels Hansen Smith (1884-1976) - Find a Grave Memorial, accessed December 27, 2023.</ref>