Sen. Fred Smith says he never missed an important vote.
In a conversation with Dome, the Clayton Republican said that he coordinated his gubernatorial campaign carefully with Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger to ensure that he was not away from the legislature during a critical vote.
He said the 312 missed votes either fell along party lines or passed overwhelmingly.
"If my vote would have changed the outcome, I would have been there," he said.
Smith said that his attendance and voting records for previous sessions were among the best, noting that he flew back from Philadelphia, where his wife was recuperating from knee surgery, to vote against creating the state lottery in August of 2005.
He said he missed three days at the end of the session because he had campaign events that were scheduled before the legislature pushed back the last day.
After the jump, a list of missed days.
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Smith's missed votes occurred on 17 days:
March 14
March 22
April 10
April 11
April 24
May 14
May 23
May 24
June 28
June 29
July 18
July 23
July 27
July 28
July 31
Aug. 1
Aug. 2
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Re: Sen. Smith's defense
Ok - this "defense" doesn't hold water. I guess the following are unimportant votes according to Sen. Smith:
Source: Under The Dome (excerpted)
The Clayton Republican, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, was listed in a survey by the Greensboro News & Record as having missed about a quarter of the votes, or 318 out of 1,238.
Some were minor, such this bill to honor Independence High's football team, or this one to honor the founder of Peace College. Others were procedural moves on bills that he eventually voted on.
A few were high profile decisions, however. Smith missed votes to change billboard setbacks, divest state money from Sudan, allow judges to carry handguns and create a pilot program for publicly financed campaigns.
Two bills tie into his gubernatorial campaign theme of stopping illegal immigration. Smith missed votes on a bill that would help jailers determine the legal status of prisoners, and another that would require fingerprinting of drunk drivers who don't have valid ID.
He also missed a vote that ties to his theme of Democratic corruption. That bill will limit legal defense funds like the one created for disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black.