Join Fred In Run For Governor

Senator Fred Smith announced his candidacy for Governor in one of the more traditional locations in campaign history, the place he was raised. It was Senator Smith's wish to draw attention to one aspect of his childhood that has driven his move into public service after a very successful life as a lawyer, farmer and businessman.




That background of his youth is the public service which was his parent's life commitment. Though Fred has always given back in both time and money to his community, it is only recently that he has made that his primary focus in life, to give back to our state, North Carolina.





His press conference this morning emphasized his rages to riches story, and the history of his family in giving back to society. These are things he can be proud of and which his family and friends already knew.




A huge throng of family and friends turned out for the event. Here below Ginny Smith, Fred's wife is shown arriving.




His mother was in charge of 24 orphans in the building he stands before, and his father was a teacher and coach for the orphanage as well. This was the building where he and his parents lived and where Fred was raised.



Fred has recently run a very successful campaign for re-election for State Senate, and the huge victory margin in an area traditionally democratic, and which saw significant democratic victories this year, did not dent Fred's personal victory margins. In fact his margins increased, indicating the popularity of this Republican who is a "favorite son" of Johnston County.




That popularity among moderates is one thing that clashes with the democratic fondness for saying Fred is an "arch" conservative. They know that claiming he is extreme will not fly so they are trying to find a new way to try and paint him as out of the mainstrean. He is a conservative that moderates respect and admire too.



Here Fred answers questions of a couple of local reporters, as he starts to tell more of North Carolina what he stands for.




Here is the News & Observer take on the event.




Here is a link to another blogger, Lorrie Byrd's coverage of the event.




As usual at this type of event, there was plenty of food to take care of the crowd.



In the picture above, former Johnston County Republican Chairman and long time Fred Smith fan, Joe Avery partakes of some of the food.

WRAL gave major coverage to the press conference. Their stories and two separate streaming videos can be seen here and here. Click on the titles below the "Video" listing on the right of these articles to play their coverage from TV.

Our own Inner Banks Eagle coverage of Fred included one article where I personally observed how hard a worker Fred is. "Fred Smith is a Winner" was a great election day story about this man's endurance. This is not a man who can be outworked by anyone, probably one reason he has been a success at everything he tries. In another of our previous articles, Governor of Texas Rick Perry gave Fred his endorsement, here.



Link to second article covering Reagan Day Dinner and Salute to the Troops.