Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Pat Smathers was born on Jan. 8, 1954 in Canton, N.C., a mountain mill town his family has called home for eight generations. He spent most of his childhood playing sports: Pat twice helped lead his high school football team to state championships, winning the title in his senior year.   

Pat attended Duke University on a full athletic scholarship. He then studied law at Wake Forest, from which he received his J.D. in 1979.
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After law school, Pat fulfilled a lifelong dream to serve his country by joining the North Carolina National Guard. He has continued to pursue his military education, earning his master's in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He retired in August 2007 as a lieutenant colonel.  

Pat began practicing law in western North Carolina in 1979. Three years later, he married Sherry Walters. The couple has two children: Zeb, a law student at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Anna, who graduated from Appalachian State University in May 2007. 

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Pat remained active in the western North Carolina community, serving on numerous boards and chairing the Haywood County Democratic Party. He also worked closely with the area's public schools, serving as attorney for the Haywood County School Board and Haywood Community College.    

In 1999, Pat successfully ran for mayor on an ambitious rejuvenation platform. As mayor, he worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for fellow citizens. He led efforts to beautify downtown, build parks and extend sewer lines. He also collaborated with the paper mill to improve local water and air quality.

A pair of storms in 2004 threatened to undo all the progress Pat had made: Resultant flooding left behind $100 million worth of damage. But Pat was determined to rebuild. Today, residents agree, Canton is better than ever. 

I believe North Carolina is like a chain, with our cities and towns forming its links. If any one of those links should weaken or break, the chain would fail. That is why I am running for lieutenant governor on a platform of “local leadership, statewide.”

That slogan is not about a mayor running for statewide office. It’s about empowering our talented local leaders to develop and strengthen their hometowns. We rely on local government for the vast majority of services and protections we enjoy as citizens, yet it is the least funded and least enabled level of government. It is time we shift our thinking.

We look to local government to safeguard our streets, keep our water clean, pick up our trash and educate our children. Yet when it comes time to make decisions regarding those critical tasks, we too often turn to Raleigh. We’re bypassing the people best equipped to solve our state’s problems. North Carolina needs to empower and support the local leaders who know and understand their communities’ unique challenges, strengths and priorities. To build a stronger North Carolina, we must first strengthen our communities.

There are many serious issues confronting our state today. We still have too many students in overcrowded classrooms, veterans on our streets and hard-working families struggling to pay their mortgage bills. We’re coping with a failed mental health system and facing an unprecedented period of population growth. As lieutenant governor, I will press for North Carolina to approach these and other issues by invigorating local leadership.

The lieutenant governor cannot enact or veto legislation. The office’s power lies in the holder’s ability to help set the state’s agenda. As lieutenant governor, I will call upon my vision, experience and proven leadership skills to put the people first and strengthen North Carolina.