President Joe Biden has nominated fellow Democrat and longtime Georgia State Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus as ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
Mr. Biden, who has been criticized for leaving key foreign-service posts unfilled late into his first year facing a slim Senate majority and partisan fights over his domestic priorities, announced Mr. Smyre’s appointment Sept. 22 along with nominees to Sweden and Belgium. The position is subject to U.S. Senate approval.
A former executive vice president for Columbus-based bank group Synovus, Mr. Smyre has served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 47 years, a tenure that makes him the acting “dean” of the House.
Elected as the youngest member in 1974 at the age of 26, Mr. Smyre has been a consistent trailblazer in the Georgia Democratic Party. He was the first Black Georgian to serve on the Democratic National Committee and became the first Black state party chair in 2001, appointed by then-Gov. Roy Barnes.
His extensive legislative record includes serving on a variety of key committees including higher education, rules and appropriates, authoring the bill creating a state holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as co-sponsoring the bill creating a state flag without the Confederate battle emblem, a polarizing fight in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Mr. Smyre is chairman emeritus of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and also served as president of the Synovus Foundation.
A nation of more than 10 million people, the Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with neighboring Haiti, which has been in the headlines of late due to the assassination of its president in July, a devastating earthquake in August and the recent influx of undocumented Haitian migrants on the U.S.’s southern border. Dominican Republic diplomats have called on the world to prioritize finding a solution to ongoing instability in Haiti.
The “DR,” as many know it, traditionally enjoys strong relations with the United States, having sent large diaspora communities to cities like New York and Miami. It’s also a tourist hub that is working to further diversify its economy to woo factories moving back to the Western Hemisphere from Asia due to supply-chain concerns.
While boasting representation from more than 70 countries, Georgia does not have a Dominican consulate or honorary consulate; the City of Atlanta does enjoy a sister-city relationship with the city of Salcedo.
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