Smith graduated from Ohio State University with a B.S. in Finance in 1995. He is a financial consultant, partner and vice president at Smith Financial Advisors of Hilliard Lyons. In 2007, Smith opted to run for the Gallipolis City School Board of Education, and won. He would win reelection to his seat in 2011. He is married to his wife, Vicki, and together they have four children.
In late 2011, Representative John Carey resigned to take a position at Shawnee State University. Soon after, Smith announced his candidacy for the seat for the 2012 election. He faced two others in a primary election, and Philip H. Rose was appointed to the seat as a placeholder until a winner could be decided. Smith ultimately won the primary by 62 votes. In the general election held on November 6, 2012, Smith defeated Democratic candidate Josh Bailey with 64.2% of the vote. In 2014, Smith easily won re-election over Democrat Josh Bailey with over 70% of the vote. He is serving as Chairman of the House Finance Committee for the 131st Ohio General Assembly, and is tasked with carrying the state biennium budget. After Speaker Cliff Rosenberger resigned on April 12, 2018 Smith announced that he would run for Speaker. During the race for Speaker while he had the most support, though he was never believed to have the necessary majority to be elected speaker. This caused Speaker Pro-Tempore Kirk Schuring to cancel House Session on multiple occasions, to give Smith more time to get the votes that he needed and try to bridge the Republican caucus divide. In June Schuring put forward two options to the House in a straw poll, either they could hold a vote for speaker or they could amend House rules to allow the Speaker Pro Tempore to continue through the rest of the year. A majority of House members decided that a vote should be held. On June 6, 2018 the vote for speaker was held during House session. The nominees where Rep. Ryan Smith, Rep. Andy Thompson, Rep. Jim Hughes, and Rep. Fred Strahorn. House rules required that a nominee receive a majority of the votes of those present for the vote, or after 10 votes if no nominee has received a majority then on the 11th vote the nominee with the plurality will be named Speaker. 7 Representatives were absent for the vote bringing the required majority from 50 down to 46. Smith was elected on the 11th vote by plurality, receiving 44 votes. Speaker Smith had been disgruntled that Representative Jim Butler, Dean of the House Caucus for the 133rd General Assembly and the only one with the ability to call the vote for speaker, had not called a vote before the official speaker election, so that the Caucus could come to a consensus. Smith asked Speaker Pro-Tempore Kirk Schuring, Dean of the House Caucus for the 132nd General Assembly, to call the vote. The caucus meeting and vote was held on December 27th, 2018. Only 34 Republicans showed up, with 26 boycotting the event. Of the 34 who showed up, all voted for Smith to be Speaker for the 133rd General Assembly. Rep. Butler called the vote illegitimate as Schuring called the vote, not him. Butler said “Any claim that a meeting called by Rep. Schuring or someone else is a legitimate caucus of the 133rd General Assembly is false.” Schuring won't be a member of the House next year as he was elected to become a State Senator. Butler called the Thursday meeting a “Ryan Smith campaign event." Butler went on further to say "To describe an illegitimate meeting of 34 people as anything else is quite a stretch when it takes 50 votes of the 99-member House to become Speaker,” he said. “The actual vote for the next Speaker of the House with all 99 Representatives present will take place on January 7th.”
