Republican · Michigan's 8th District · 2026
Thomas Smith
Smith is a retired General Motors engineer, small business owner and father of three military veterans.
Biography
Thomas Smith's salsa business grew out of family visits to his son, a Marine cook at Camp Pendleton in California.1 Smith recalled bringing coolers of his son's salsa back from those visits.1 By 2009, father and son were making batches together twice a week in a Grand Blanc Township veterans' post kitchen.1
Smith retired from quality control at General Motors in 2008 and described the business as fulfilling a longstanding wish to become an entrepreneur.1 He recalled a regular customer, who shared the salsa with friends, suggesting that the family turn it into a business.1 They began selling at local farmers markets.1 Jar Head Salsa expanded to include queso, bloody mary mix and chips alongside salsa.2 Smith is also an Army veteran.3
His congressional campaign took an unusual route to the Republican nomination: he suspended it in July 2026 and endorsed another candidate, but remained on the ballot and won the August primary.3 He had been one of three Republicans seeking the nomination.3
His stated economic positions include expanding domestic energy production, lowering taxes, reducing regulation and streamlining work visas.3 Drawing on his experience as a skilled trades supervisor, he says schools and businesses should have the resources to train workers.4
Record and controversies
Deleted social media posts
CNN reported in September 2026 that Smith had amplified false claims about Barack Obama's birthplace and reposted attacks on Islam through his salsa business's accounts, which it identified as his through repeated statements naming himself as their operator.5 It described a February 2025 repost calling for treason trials and asking what punishment treason carries.5 CNN's reporter then described death or at least five years in prison as legal punishments for treason.5 CNN said he did not answer its questions about the posts for that broadcast.5 Earlier, he said scrutiny of old posts was fine and criticized his opponent's votes.6
The reported call concerned trials, rather than an unconditional demand for executions. The deleted accounts and individual posts were not independently recovered in this review; the exact text beyond the quoted question, including whether the repost itself stated penalties, was not independently verified. The account attribution and post contents are reported from CNN's investigation.