{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Gordon Grant","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Gordon Lindsey Grant is a registered voter in Buncombe County, North Carolina, registered since 1992 (34 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Gordon Lindsey Grant's year of birth as 1955; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [1].\n\nThe voter history file shows 13 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [2].\n\nThis summary draws only from the public North Carolina voter registration and history records. No additional published biographical information was located. Voters with personal knowledge of Gordon Lindsey Grant can reach ballotproject.org with corrections or additions.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","firstname":"Gordon","lastname":"Grant","middlename":"Lindsey","suffix":null,"token":"a2a58ab2693b767c"},"token":"2kfXmQ6XCiShux2G"},{"candidatename":"Daniel Shetley","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"","person":{"biography":"Daniel Scott Shetley is a candidate for one of the four open seats on the Asheville City Schools Board of Education in the November\u202f3\u202f2026 general election. The Board of Education is charged with setting district policies, establishing educational goals, providing operational oversight, and serving as a liaison between the community and the leadership of Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools\u202f[12].\n\nPublicly available sources provide limited biographical detail about Shetley; the article does not list his education, professional experience, or prior elected service. His participation in the candidate questionnaire is recorded, though his answer to the question on the three\u2011year collaborative funding strategy is truncated in the report\u202f[12].\n\nIn the questionnaire, Shetley indicated that he would work with the newly approved collaborative funding plan, which allocates roughly 15\u202f% of a $119\u202fmillion annual pool to Asheville City Schools, to sustain programming\u202f[12]. No additional policy positions, endorsements, or specific accomplishments were detailed in the source.\n\n## Sources\n- [12] [Candidates for Asheville Board of Education share their stances on collaborative funding, staff morale and environmental issues \u2013 Mountain Xpress](https://mountainx.com/news/politics-elections/candidates-for-asheville-board-of-education-share-their-stances-on-collaborative-funding-staff-morale-and-environmental-issues/)","firstname":"Daniel","lastname":"Shetley","middlename":"Scott","suffix":null,"token":"03a1b37f4a167770"},"token":"nMB46sZdzAf6g8qP"},{"candidatename":"Liza English-Kelly","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Brooke Elizabeth English-Kelly is a registered voter in Buncombe County, North Carolina, registered since 2012 (14 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Brooke Elizabeth English-Kelly's year of birth as 1987; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [1].\n\nThe voter history file shows 11 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [2].\n\nThis summary draws only from the public North Carolina voter registration and history records. No additional published biographical information was located. Voters with personal knowledge of Brooke Elizabeth English-Kelly can reach ballotproject.org with corrections or additions.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","firstname":"Brooke","lastname":"English-Kelly","middlename":"Elizabeth","suffix":null,"token":"bc64de80a639a26c"},"token":"R_mO7kOz-FK3JBsI"},{"candidatename":"Rebecca Strimer","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nRebecca Leigh Strimer is an incumbent member of the Asheville City Schools Board of Education, seeking re-election to one of four seats on the six-member nonpartisan board in the November 3, 2026 general election [1][2].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nResponding to Mountain Xpress's 2026 candidate questionnaire on school funding and sustainability, Strimer said she is \"proud to be a member of the board that passed\" the new three-year collaborative funding strategy between Buncombe County Schools and Asheville City Schools, citing the value of budget predictability [1]. She described Asheville City Schools' partnership with food-service vendor Chartwells on zero-waste initiatives, including eliminating styrofoam trays, and said she would keep pushing the vendor to reduce waste further [1]. On transportation, she highlighted the district's pre-K, late-bus, and summer busing services and a newly approved fuel-efficient 15-passenger vehicle [1]. She said climate education is increasingly important \"as national trends [move] away from the reality of climate science\" [1]. On teacher morale, she pointed to a \"Meet, confer, collaborate\" process that brings ACS educators and administrators together monthly [1].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Candidates for Asheville Board of Education share their stances on collaborative funding, staff morale and environmental issues \u2013 Mountain Xpress](https://mountainx.com/news/politics-elections/candidates-for-asheville-board-of-education-share-their-stances-on-collaborative-funding-staff-morale-and-environmental-issues/)\n- [2] [Vote-USA \u2013 Rebecca Strimer, Currently Elected Asheville Board of Education](https://vote-usa.org/Intro.aspx?State=NC&Id=NCStrimerRebecca)","firstname":"Rebecca","lastname":"Strimer","middlename":"Leigh","suffix":null,"token":"4de693877b7edc77"},"token":"Zxq5Si1vOm_YLSJk"},{"candidatename":"Sarah Thornburg","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nSarah O'Neill Thornburg, an attorney who practices professionally as Sarah Sparboe Thornburg, is an incumbent member of the Asheville City Schools Board of Education running for re-election in the November 3, 2026 general election, one of six candidates for four open seats on the nonpartisan board [1][2]. Responding to Mountain Xpress's 2026 candidate questionnaire, she said the district's new three-year collaborative funding agreement with Buncombe County Schools \"brings predictability and stability to a budget process that otherwise lacks much of either\" [2].\n\n## Background and education\nThornburg earned a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Duke University in 1990 and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1996, and was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in 1997 [3]. Before practicing law, she worked as a high school social studies teacher and later served as a judicial clerk for Judge Thomas A. Higgins of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee [3].\n\n## Career\nThornburg is an attorney at the Asheville firm McGuire, Wood & Bissette, where she focuses on estate planning, estate administration, guardianship, and tax planning [3]. She is a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association [3].\n\n## Office history\nThornburg was a candidate for the Asheville City Schools Board of Education in the 2022 election cycle [4] and is identified as an incumbent board member as of April 2026 [2].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nOn the board, Thornburg has discussed the new Buncombe County Schools/Asheville City Schools funding agreement, the district's zero-waste and universal free-meals programs, and classroom climate-education content, in response to Mountain Xpress's candidate questionnaire [2].\n\n## Business interests and wealth source\nThornburg's law practice focuses on trusts, estates, and elder law; no additional business ownership or wealth-source details are documented in available sources [3].\n\n## Family\nThornburg self-describes on her personal Instagram account as a \"mom of two boys and public school teacher\" [5].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Sarah Thornburg (Asheville City Schools Board of Education, North Carolina, candidate 2022) - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Sarah_Thornburg_(Asheville_City_Schools_Board_of_Education,_North_Carolina,_candidate_2022))\n[2] [Candidates for Asheville Board of Education share their stances on collaborative funding, staff morale and environmental issues \u2013 Mountain Xpress](https://mountainx.com/news/politics-elections/candidates-for-asheville-board-of-education-share-their-stances-on-collaborative-funding-staff-morale-and-environmental-issues/)\n[3] [Sarah Sparboe Thornburg - McGuire, Wood and Bissette Law Firm](https://www.mwblawyers.com/attorneys/sarah-sparboe-thornburg)\n[4] [2022 Primary Voter Guide: Asheville City Board of Education \u2013 Mountain Xpress](https://mountainx.com/news/2022-primary-voter-guide-asheville-city-board-of-education/)\n[5] [Sarah Thornburg (@srthornburg) on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/srthornburg/) (Instagram requires login for the full profile; reflects the account's public bio text as of access date)","firstname":"Sarah","lastname":"Thornburg","middlename":"O'Neill","suffix":null,"token":"ab78952f51430823"},"token":"kmBoBcyLyGx8EiCD"},{"candidatename":"Daria Datnoff","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Daria Lina Datnoff is a registered voter in Buncombe County, North Carolina, registered since 2020 (6 years), with party affiliation listed as Unaffiliated [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Daria Lina Datnoff's year of birth as 1988; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [1].\n\nThe voter history file shows 4 elections voted in since 2020, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [2].\n\nThis summary draws only from the public North Carolina voter registration and history records. No additional published biographical information was located. Voters with personal knowledge of Daria Lina Datnoff can reach ballotproject.org with corrections or additions.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","firstname":"Daria","lastname":"Datnoff","middlename":"Lina","suffix":null,"token":"56a490a159a8e099"},"token":"qwp9y0VFLP7BFMG9"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"school_board","o.office":"county_school_board","office":"county_school_board","officedescription":"A school board member serves on the elected body that governs a public school district. The board sets district policy and budget priorities and hires and evaluates the superintendent, while leaving day-to-day management to the administration.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment for a public school district \u2014 setting direction while leaving day-to-day management to the superintendent.\n- Budget literacy for operating and capital budgets, in coordination with the county commission (which appropriates) and the state.\n- Ability to hire, evaluate, and when necessary replace the superintendent \u2014 the board's highest-stakes recurring decision.\n- Constituent relations with parents, teachers, principals, and community members.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County School Board Member","partisan":0,"pgr":"general","quantity":4,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Asheville City Schools Board Of Education"}