{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Jesse Oppenheim","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJesse Alexander Oppenheim is a Democratic candidate for U.S. House North Carolina District 8 in the 2026 primary. His campaign slogan is \"Common Sense in Uncommon Times.\"\n\nOppenheim supports banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, closing loopholes in campaign finance law, and strengthening ethics enforcement. He emphasizes lowering costs for North Carolina families and building public trust through transparency and accountability.\n\n## Background and education\nOppenheim earned a bachelor's degree from Kenyon College and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.\n\n## Career\nOppenheim is an attorney who serves as General Counsel to a medical billing software company, where he has led legal departments, advised executives, and worked at the intersection of healthcare and technology. He has spent his career in corporate and healthcare law.\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Meet Jesse \u2013 Jesse Oppenheim for Congress](https://www.jessefornc.com/meet-jesse)\n","firstname":"Jesse","lastname":"Oppenheim","middlename":"Alexander","suffix":null,"token":"84da680178273fe5"},"token":"ehK8c4MMIP3kBfjx"},{"candidatename":"Colby Watson","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"Colby Watson is the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina\u2019s 8th Congressional District in the 2026 election. He advanced from a contested Democratic primary on March\u202f3,\u202f2026, defeating Kevin Clark (37.1%) and Jesse Oppenheim (14.9%) with 47.9% of the vote (18,205 votes) and will face incumbent Republican Mark Harris in the November\u202f3,\u202f2026 general election [1].\n\nBorn in Indian Trail and raised in Union County, North Carolina, Watson was homeschooled and earned a high\u2011school diploma without attending college. He later took courses at Central Piedmont Community College and has described himself as a lifelong learner despite not holding a formal degree [8][10].\n\nWatson\u2019s professional background is rooted in small\u2011business ownership. At age 25 he and his brother launched a construction and federal\u2011contracting firm that grew to employ more than 50 workers, handling projects for federal, state, and local infrastructure. He describes himself as a \u201csmall business owner (federal contractor)\u201d and has spent the past decade running that enterprise, giving him firsthand experience with job creation, supply\u2011chain challenges, and the impact of government procurement on local economies [10][16].\n\nHis campaign platform focuses on five broad areas. In housing, he pledges to curb institutional investors\u2019 dominance of the market to preserve homeownership for families [1][9]. On labor and farming, he emphasizes antitrust enforcement against monopolies that squeeze farmers and small businesses, drawing on his own experience as a business owner [1][9]. Healthcare policy centers on eliminating medical\u2011debt burdens and moving toward a system that prioritizes patients over profit, including support for the Medical Debt Relief Act [1][9]. Education priorities include protecting parents\u2019 rights to homeschool, increasing teacher pay, and expanding funding for special\u2011education and Title\u202fI schools [1][9]. Infrastructure investment is framed as a job\u2011creating, climate\u2011smart priority, while anti\u2011corruption measures include refusing lobbyist money, banning stock trades while in office, and rejecting special\u2011interest contributions [1][9][16].\n\nWatson\u2019s campaign has already generated modest fundraising, reporting $29,101.80 in total receipts and $27,271.31 in expenditures to date, according to Federal Election Commission filings for his principal campaign committee, \u201cCOLBY WATSON FOR CONGRESS\u201d [2][3]. He has also undertaken a high\u2011visibility \u201cwalk across the district\u201d campaign, planning to trek roughly 25 miles per day for a week\u2011long journey from Lumberton to the Charlotte suburbs, a stunt he says is meant to demonstrate commitment and connect directly with voters [16].\n\nWhile he has no prior elected office, Watson\u2019s background as a Union County native, husband, father of two, and longtime small\u2011business operator positions him as a candidate who argues he understands the everyday challenges of constituents in the district. His campaign website outlines a pledge to refuse lobbyist money, avoid stock trading while in office, and place loyalty to the American people above personal gain [7][15].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Colby Watson - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Colby_Watson)\n- [2] [WATSON, COLBY - Candidate overview - FEC.gov](https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H6NC08202/)\n- [3] [COLBY WATSON FOR CONGRESS - committee overview - FEC.gov](https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00920652/)\n- [7] [Colby Watson For Congress | Democrat for NC's 8th District](https://www.colbyforcongress.com)\n- [8] [About | Colby Watson For Congress](https://www.colbyforcongress.com/about)\n- [9] [Issues | Colby Watson For Congress](https://www.colbyforcongress.com/issues)\n- [10] [Colby Watson | The Election Hub](https://www.theelectionhub.org/mecklenburg-county/colby-watson/2026-primary/north-carolina)\n- [15] [Colby Watson | BallotReady](https://www.ballotready.org/people/colby-watson)\n- [16] [Watson to walk across 8th district in U.S. House campaign \u2013 Robesonian](https://www.robesonian.com/news/334482/watson-to-walk-across-8th-district-in-u-s-house-campaign)\n- [17] [Colby Watson \u2014 Donate via ActBlue](https://secure.actblue.com/donate/colbyforcongress)\n- [20] [North Carolina House District 8 Primary Election Live Results 2026 - NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-primary-elections/north-carolina-us-house-district-8-results)","firstname":"Colby","lastname":"Watson","middlename":"Lawrence","suffix":null,"token":"20c0caf2966be14e"},"token":"a8k70110mGxV18iu"},{"candidatename":"Kevin Clark","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"> **Status update.** Kevin Roy Clark lost the Democratic primary for U.S. House District 8, placing second among three candidates, to Colby Watson, 14,167 votes to 18,272 (March 3, 2026); Watson advances to the November 3, 2026 general election [3].\n\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Kevin Roy Clark is a registered voter in Richmond County, North Carolina, registered since 2010 (16 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Kevin Roy Clark's year of birth as 1954; 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 Kevin Roy Clark 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/)\n\n[3] North Carolina State Board of Elections, March 3, 2026 primary results by precinct (results_pct_20260303, dl.ncsbe.gov) -- accessed 2026-07-24; US House of Representatives District 08 (DEM): Colby Watson 18,272, Kevin Clark 14,167, Jesse Oppenheim 5,693.","firstname":"Kevin","lastname":"Clark","middlename":"Roy","suffix":null,"token":"ecd390bc0426b70e"},"token":"G01StdA58xHYmZDb"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"us_representative","o.office":"us_house","office":"us_house","officedescription":"A United States Representative represents a single congressional district in the lower chamber of Congress, serving a two-year term. Representatives write and pass federal law, originate revenue bills, fund and oversee the executive branch, and serve constituents in dealings with federal agencies.","officequalities":"- Legislative craft at the federal level: reading, drafting, and amending federal statute, and knowing the law being changed.\n- Understanding of the district's economic and everyday concerns, and constituent-service capacity for casework with federal agencies.\n- Persuasion and coalition-building across party and factional lines to form working majorities.\n- Integrity: acting for constituents and the public good rather than personal gain, independent of undue influence.\n- Oversight judgment: the House funds and oversees the executive branch and the military.","officeterm":2,"officetitle":"U.S. Representative","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Us House Of Representatives District 08"}