David lives in the McGees Crossroads community and worked for twelve summers on his family’s tobacco farm in Johnston County enabling him to pay for his education at N.C. State where he received three degrees: Agricultural Business Management, Agricultural Economics, and Chemistry.

After several years of work for U.S. Senator Jesse Helms and a run for commissioner of agriculture in 2000, he went to work for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University.  Senator Helms later brought him back to serve as his senior policy advisor where he continued his work after the Senator’s retirement under the direction of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole. 

Widely regarded as one of the principal individuals who helped advance and achieve the tobacco quota buyout so critical to this Senate district, David was appointed by the President to a senior executive post at the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he oversaw a loan guarantee and grant portfolio of more than $5 billion in investments in rural America – including significant investments in Johnston and Wayne counties.
 
David continues to be a friend of North Carolina and this Senate district through his consulting business, The Rouzer Company, focusing on federal policy issues that directly impact jobs and economic opportunity in North Carolina.