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.
Smith argued for a critical east-west transportation corridor. He was 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 was heavily criticized by the Democratic Party, including criticisms from then-state party chairman Jerry Meek, as being an absentee Senator, because Smith missed over 300 votes in 2007, which was over a quarter of all possible voting opportunities.
In 2007, Smith became a candidate for Governor. The office was coming open as a result of the departure of term-limited incumbent, Mike Easley. Smith lost the 2008 Republican primary to Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory. Official primary election results show Fred Smith won 66 counties but out of a total of 504,973 votes, Smith lost the popular vote to Pat McCrory by 45,975 votes.
During his gubernatorial campaign, Smith physically visited all 100 North Carolina counties in nine months and 18 days, holding a barbecue dinner in each county. 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, Smith thanked each attendee upon their exit from the dinner.
On May 6, 2008, Smith pledged full support to Pat McCrory for governor, 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.”
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