{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Alan Thornburg","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nAlan Z. Thornburg is the Democratic incumbent judge for North Carolina Superior Court Judge District 40 Seat 02, seeking re-election in the November 3, 2026 general election [1][2]. He has served on the Superior Court bench continuously since his January 2009 appointment; his current term runs through December 31, 2026 [1].\n\n## Background and education\nThornburg received a B.A. in history from Davidson College in 1989 and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1996 [1].\n\n## Office history\nGovernor Mike Easley appointed Thornburg to the 28th Judicial District Superior Court (Eighth Division) in January 2009 [1]. He won election to a full term in November 2010, defeating Kate Dreher with 52.24% of the vote [1]. In 2018, the North Carolina General Assembly's House Bill 717 restructured the state's superior court divisions, absorbing Thornburg's Eighth Division seat into the Fifth Division effective January 1, 2019 [1]. He was re-elected without opposition in November 2018, receiving 84,617 votes [1]. He now files for the Superior Court seat covering Buncombe County, listed in the state's 2026 candidate filing as District 40 Seat 02 \u2014 the same continuously-held seat Ballotpedia's most recent substantive update still labels District 28, reflecting judicial-district renumbering since his last contested election [1][2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Alan Z. Thornburg - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Alan_Z._Thornburg) (cited as last resort for pre-2019 career history; no primary-government or editorial-journalism source found)\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Listing (bulk CSV), accessed 2026-07-20 \u2014 https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Elections/2026/Candidate%20Filing/Candidate_Listing_2026.csv","firstname":"Alan","lastname":"Thornburg","middlename":"Ziegler","suffix":null,"token":"1d2176369760afa5"},"token":"cKFkNz1zGd7IaKSH"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":null,"o.office":"superior_court_judge","office":"superior_court_judge","officedescription":"In North Carolina, a superior court judge presides over the general-jurisdiction trial court \u2014 felony criminal cases and civil cases above the district-court limit \u2014 riding a rotation among the counties of the judicial district. Decisions are subject to appellate review.","officequalities":"- Trial-court judge of general civil and criminal jurisdiction \u2014 presides over jury and bench trials, dispositive motions, and felony sentencing.\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 the substantive and procedural law that controls, and the published precedent.\n- Docket management across a rotating district while honoring due process.\n- Clear written and oral explanation of rulings, so the parties and the public can follow the reasoning.","officeterm":8,"officetitle":"Superior Court Judge","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Nc Superior Court Judge District 40 Seat 02"}