A former state senator from 1994 to 2002, Alma Wheeler Smith has also served the people of Washtenaw County as a Cablecasting Commissioner, a School Board member and president, and County Commissioner. Alma was the first African American to run for governor on Michigan's Democratic ticket and the first woman to lead an appropriations caucus in the Legislature.
She has authored laws regulating personal protection orders between juveniles and their parents or guardians and a constitutional amendment which brought the Michigan Compiled Laws into conformity with federal disability terminology.
She has lived in Washtenaw County since 1943 and has been a resident of Salem Township since 1978. She has three adult children: Conan, Dana and Tara.