Claiborne Washington "Clay" Smothers (April 1, 1935 – June 11, 2004) was an American politician and commentator. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the former District 33-G in Dallas County who served from 1977 to 1981. Though elected as a conservative Democrat, Smothers switched to Republican affiliation on December 17, 1979, near the end of the first year of the first administration of Bill Clements, first Republican governor of Texas since Reconstruction.