Fred Smith (politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fred Smith (born March 27, 1942 in Raleigh, NC[1])is a North Carolina politician who serves in the North Carolina Senate and ran for Governor of North Carolina in 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Early Life and Education
Smith was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father was a teacher and coach at an orphanage, and his mother was a homemaker. While attending Raleigh's Broughton High School, Smith earned a football scholarship to attend Wake Forest University. Subsequently, he attended Wake Forest Law School, where he graduated with honors in 1966.
Smith is married to Virginia (Ginny) Reid Smith, is father to five children, and is grandfather to six children. The Smith family is active in the First Baptist Church of Clayton, where he has been a Sunday school teacher.
[edit] Military and Business Career
Smith served as a Captain in the United States Army JAG Corps for four years after law school. In the years that followed, Fred Smith became a lawyer and homebuilder. Smith's businesses employ more than 600 people in Wake and Johnston Counties. The largest of those companies is his ownership of paving company CC Mangum, of which he is the CEO. Smith also created the Fred Smith Company, which builds homes and constructs golf courses and athletic clubs.[2] Smith touts himself as a CEO, not a politician, who deals with "straight talk and a clear vision."[3]
[edit] Political career
Smith was elected in 2000 as a Johnston County commissioner. In 2002, he was elected to the first of 3 terms in the state Senate, representing Johnston County and Wayne County, North Carolina[4]
Senator Smith has argued for a critical east-west transportation corridor. He is a primary sponsor of an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution which would define marriage as between one man and one woman at one time.
Smith has been heavily criticized by the Democratic Party, including criticisms from Jerry Meek, as being an absentee Senator, because Smith missed over 300 votes in 2007, which is over a quarter of all possible voting opportunities.[5]
In 2007, Smith became a candidate for Governor. The office will be open as a result of the departure of term-limited incumbent, Mike Easley. Smith lost the Republican primary to Pat McCrory.
During his gubernatorial campaign, Senator Fred Smith physically visited all 100 North Carolina counties in nine months and 18 days, holding a Barbecue dinner in each county, a politically historical feat in itself. Barbecue dinners, known as the “Fred Smith for Governor BBQ Statewide Tour,” started in Haywood County, North Carolina on Thursday, August 2, 2007, and ended on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. Additionally, during these dinners, Fred Smith thanked each attendee upon their exit from the dinner.
On May 6, 2008, 10:37 P.M. Fred Smith pledged full support to Pat McCrory for North Carolina governor 2008, saying,
“I have pledged my full support to Pat McCrory to do whatever is in my power to help elect a Republican governor in November to change the culture in Raleigh and fix our broken government.”
North Carolina May 6, 2008, Official primary election results show Fred Smith won 66 counties. Out of a total of 504,973 votes, Fred Smith lost the popular vote to Pat McCrory by 45,975 votes.
