Walter Smith

Walter Smith
Candidate for
North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture
Party	Democratic
Education
Bachelor's	North Carolina State University
Personal
Place of birth	Eastern North Carolina
Profession	Farmer
Websites
Campaign website

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Walter Smith was a 2012 Democratic candidate for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture in the 2012 elections.

Biography

Born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, Smith taught Vocational Agriculture after graduating from North Carolina State University. He then worked for 32 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has served as the Mayor of Boonville.

Education

• BS in Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University

Elections

2012

See also: North Carolina down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Smith ran for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture in 2012. He defeated Scott Bryant in the Democratic primary on May 8 and lost to Republican incumbent Steve Troxler in the general election on November 6, 2012.

North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Smith	46.8%	2,025,054
	Republican	Steve Troxler Incumbent	53.2%	2,303,586
Total Votes				4,328,640
Election Results via NC State Board of Elections.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner, Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Walter Smith	55.1%	424,287
Scott Bryant	44.9%	345,644
Total Votes		769,931
Election Results Via: The North Carolina Board of Elections

Issue positions

In an essay to the Charlotte Observer, Smith stated:
"As commissioner there are several issues I will focus on, such as making the food and consumer safety division a high priority, keeping all the Agricultural Research Stations open, cutting red tape in NCDA by reviewing applications, procedures and regulations required of farmers and agribusinesses in order to simplify them to make them easier to understand and follow, and encouraging our farms and agribusinesses to 'Go Green.'"
"We are losing farms and farmland at an alarming rate. I will work with our Land Grant Universities to target potential new farmers and provide them with the resources to help them get started in farming and find crops that can be grown profitably on their farms. I will also establish a hotline for farmers, agribusiness owners and consumers to call with any concerns, problems or suggestions. I will make the Dept. of Agriculture the most responsive agency in state government."

Endorsements

• Independent Weekly

See also

• North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

External links

Suggest a link

• Official campaign website
• Smith's answers to Indy Week's candidate questionnaire