Smithgall, who was born in Lancaster, graduated from J. P. McCaskey High School in 1963. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, which is now known as the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, in 1968.
Smithgall served as the Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for two-terms from January 1998 until January 3, 2006. Smithgall, a Republican, lost his re-election bid for a third term to Democrat Rick Gray in 2005. In 2009, Smithgall, who was not a candidate for mayor at the time, received 227 write-in votes by in the mayoral primary election by supporters of the former mayor.
After consideration following his write-in primary victory, Smithgall announced his intention to accept the Republican write-in nomination and seek a third term as Mayor on June 26, 2009.
Smithgall lost a bid for a third term in the 2009 mayoral election and the 2013 mayoral election. Charlie Smithgall was elected Mayor of Lancaster in 1997 after his predecessor, two-term Democrat Janice Stork, declined to run for a third term.
He defeated the Democratic candidate, Jon Lyons, by 52 to 36 percent of the total vote. Smithgall was sworn into office in January 1998.
Prior to becoming mayor of Lancaster, Smithgall was a member of the Northwest Neighborhood Association, which opposed a proposed trolley linking downtown Lancaster with the Park City Center. He also served as a member of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County.
