He was a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's forty-ninth Senate district, including constituents in Buncombe county.
During his time in office, Metcalf accepted a job as director of local government relations at Western Carolina University.
Metcalf resigned his Senate seat effective 2 February 2004; he had previously declined to run for a fourth term in the legislature.
Representative Martin Nesbitt was appointed by Governor Mike Easley to fill Metcalf's seat.
Metcalf now owns a government relations firm in North Carolina called the Policy Group.