{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Michelle McEntire","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"REP","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nAnn Michelle McEntire is a Republican candidate for North Carolina District Court Judge, District 41, which serves McDowell and Rutherford counties. She filed for candidacy on December 2, 2025, with a residential address in Marion, North Carolina. District 41 is the renaming of the former Judicial District 29A under North Carolina's 2023 judicial district restructuring legislation.\n\nHer daughter, Michelle McEntire, serves as a District Court Judge in District 41 after being appointed by Governor Roy Cooper in 2020.\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [2026 General Election Candidate List \u2013 NC State Board of Elections](https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Elections/2026/Candidate%20Filing/2026_general_candidate_list_by_contest_federal_and_state.pdf)\n- [2] [McEntire takes the oath as new District Court judge \u2013 McDowell News](https://mcdowellnews.com/news/mcentire-takes-the-oath-as-new-district-court-judge/article_e5077214-eba0-11ea-a8fb-a763d48c82f6.html)","firstname":"Ann","lastname":"Mcentire","middlename":"Michelle","suffix":null,"token":"7bc87d4e47a98023"},"token":"zJZ5TCk0X6uojgVl"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":null,"o.office":"district_court_judge","office":"district_court_judge","officedescription":"In North Carolina, a district court judge presides over the high-volume lower trial court \u2014 misdemeanors, smaller civil cases, and most family and juvenile matters (custody, support, domestic violence, abuse/neglect). Many litigants appear without lawyers.","officequalities":"- Judge of a high-volume district court \u2014 misdemeanors, smaller civil cases, and family and juvenile matters, often with unrepresented parties.\n- Judicial temperament: the willingness to listen, deliberate, and apply the law dispassionately to people whose lives are deeply affected by the outcome.\n- Impartiality and ethics under the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct, including recusal when conflicts arise.\n- Working knowledge of family, juvenile, and criminal procedure and the precedent that controls.\n- Efficient management of a heavy docket while honoring due process.\n- Accessibility and clarity for the many who appear without counsel.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"District Court Judge","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Nc District Court Judge District 41 Seat 02"}