Fred Smith (North Carolina politician)

Fred Smith
Member of the North Carolina Senate from the 12th district
In office January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2009
Personal details
Born	(1942-03-27) March 27, 1942 (age 75) Raleigh, North Carolina
Political party	Republican
Religion	Baptist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Captain

Fred Smith (born March 27, 1942 in Raleigh, NC) is a North Carolina politician who served in the North Carolina Senate and ran for Governor of North Carolina in 2008.

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 seven children. The Smith family is active in the First Baptist Church of Clayton, where he has been a Sunday school teacher.

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 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. Smith touts himself as a CEO, not a politician, who deals with "straight talk and a clear vision."

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.

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