A Letter from our New Chairman!

Fellow Orange County Republicans,

I want to introduce myself as your new Chairman. I was born and raised in Durham and attended Durham public schools, graduating from Northern Durham High School in 1984. I attended and graduated from Campbell University in May of 1988 and began the Durham police academy that same year. I spent 28 years with the police department working several divisions and rising through the ranks. I spent the last 5 years as the Deputy Chief of operations and my final six months before retiring in 2016 as the Interim Chief of Police.

I have been married to my wife Tammy for 36 years and we have 2 sons and daughters-in-law. We also have 4 grandchildren. We have resided in Orange County now for 30 years. I have served my church, Bethel Christian Center, in Durham for more than 25 years and my faith in Christ and his word is the guiding principle of my life. While I have always been conservative and a registered Republican, it was the last few years in the police department that I realized that upon retirement, I needed to get involved.

Part of my duties in the last years of the police department was to attend the city council meetings. I would see groups come in and be heard espousing ideas and beliefs contrary to what I believed and noticed there was not a dissenting voice. Shortly after my retirement, I attended my first Orange GOP meeting and have been serving since as a precinct chair of Caldwell and as the 2nd Vice Chair. While I do not consider myself political, I felt compelled to get involved and work for the causes that I think are best for our nation.

I want to thank the Orange GOP for having the confidence in me to lead the party. I have a lot to learn but have several who have gone before me to rely on and an outstanding team to serve with during my term. I especially want to thank John Gaither for his years of service and will certainly be relying on John during the beginning of my time. My challenge to anyone reading this who has not gotten involved is come join us! Something I say often is that everyone can do something! Whether you are a registered Republican or just a conservative you are welcome and we need you with us. If we have not met, come to one of our monthly meetings and introduce yourself. To all of my fellow Republicans that have been getting it done for many years, I look forward to continuing to serve with you to advance the conservative message.

Standing for Freedom!

Larry C. Smith, Chairman, Orange County Republican Party