Prior to Congress, David formed his own business doing consulting and sales work, predominately in the agricultural arena. His public service includes two terms in the North Carolina Senate representing Johnston and Wayne counties (2009-2012) where he was consistently ranked as one of the most effective pro-business legislators. David also served as assistant to the dean and director of commodity relations for the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at NC State University in between two stints with U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, where he started out as a legislative assistant and later served as senior policy advisor. He was also senior advisor for U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole. In 2005, he took a senior level appointment at USDA Rural Development and helped manage a program level budget of more than $1.2 billion and a loan portfolio of more than $5 billion in investments in rural America. David has garnered a number of awards during his career for his work in each of these capacities as well as a Member of Congress. David, a Southern Baptist, was raised in Durham and spent his summers working on the family farm just outside of Four Oaks, N.C. The money he earned those summers enabled him to pay his tuition at N.C. State University where he graduated with three degrees in Agricultural Business Management, Agricultural Economics, and Chemistry. He is also a graduate of The Fund for American Studies. David resides in Wilmington, N.C.