Charlie Smith Dannelly (born August 13, 1924) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

, who represented the 33rd (and later 38th) district from 1994 to 2013. His district includes constituents in Mecklenburg County. A retired educator from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, Dannelly served several years as Deputy President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In 2012, Dannelly, then the longest-serving lawmaker representing Mecklenburg County, filed to run for another term but due to his wife's deteriorating health, he dropped out and endorsed another candidate in the Democratic primary, Joel Ford.

Biography

Before entering politics in 1977, Dannelly was a teacher and principal. He served during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

as a first lieutenant in the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. Dannelly made 50 parachute jumps and earned the Korean Service Medal with a Bronze Star. He served on the

Charlotte City Council The Charlotte City Council is the legislative body of the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte and forms part of a Council–manager government, council–manager system of government. The Council is made up of eleven members and the Ma ...

from 1977 until 1989. Dannelly

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

in August 2024.

Notes

External links

North Carolina General Assembly - Senator Charlie Smith Dannelly
official NC Senate website
Raleigh News & Observer profileProject Vote Smart - Senator Charlie Smith Dannelly (NC)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Charlie Dannelly
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campaign contributions , - 1924 births Living people American men centenarians Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Charlotte, North Carolina, city council members American school principals Educators from North Carolina United States Army personnel of the Korean War People from Bishopville, South Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education alumni Johnson C. Smith University alumni 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub