{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"John H. (Jack) Bender III","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"UNA","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJohn Hughes Bender III, known as Jack Bender, is an unaffiliated candidate for the Jones County Board of Commissioners, District 3, in the November 3, 2026 general election. A WCTI12 report published in late February 2026 (updated March 6, 2026) described him as running unopposed [1]. However, the North Carolina State Board of Elections' 2026 candidate filing list shows two more unaffiliated candidates, Fernanda Gayle Copeland and Richard Gene Avery Jr., later filed for the same District 3 seat -- both on April 15, 2026, after that report was published -- making this a three-candidate race [2].\n\n## Career\nBender is identified on LinkedIn as the Economic Development and Planning Director for Jones County, North Carolina [3] (LinkedIn requires login; reflects the public profile as of July 2026).\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Meet your Jones County Candidates for the 2026 Election \u2014 WCTI12](https://wcti12.com/news/election/local-election/meet-your-jones-county-candidates-for-the-2026-election)\n[2] NC State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Filing List (Jones County) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21\n[3] [John Bender \u2013 Economic Developer/Planner \u2013 Jones County \u2013 LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-bender-5039a090/) (LinkedIn requires login; reflects the public profile as of July 2026)","firstname":"John","lastname":"Bender","middlename":"Hughes","suffix":"III","token":"aa12b692b2d563f8"},"token":"-3kkrCfKC71Wt4ZE"},{"candidatename":"Richard Avery Jr.","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"UNA","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Richard Gene Avery JR is a registered voter in Jones County, North Carolina, registered since 2012 (14 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Richard Gene Avery JR's year of birth as 1972; 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 12 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 Richard Gene Avery JR 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":"Richard","lastname":"Avery","middlename":"Gene","suffix":"JR","token":"a33b82f8e9d42e00"},"token":"xzN-JRJm8NNiITij"},{"candidatename":"Fernanda Copeland","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"UNA","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Fernanda Gayle Copeland is a registered voter in Jones County, North Carolina, registered since 1976 (50 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Fernanda Gayle Copeland'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 12 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 Fernanda Gayle Copeland 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":"Fernanda","lastname":"Copeland","middlename":"Gayle","suffix":null,"token":"f1e2a70133c463bc"},"token":"AgttzrDTs1BLERuG"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"county_commissioner","o.office":"county_commission","office":"county_commission","officedescription":"A county commissioner is a member of the county's legislative body. The commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, authorizes borrowing, and passes county resolutions and ordinances. Commissioners are elected from districts (or at-large seats) to represent constituents on countywide policy.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment on countywide matters \u2014 budget, taxes, land use, services, and intergovernmental issues \u2014 within Tennessee county-government law.\n- Budget literacy: the commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, and authorizes multi-year bond issues.\n- Legislative process: drafting, amending, and voting on resolutions and ordinances; committee work that pre-screens items.\n- Constituent relations in the district \u2014 case-work and community issues flow through the commissioner's office.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual continuing education through UT CTAS.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Commissioner","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Jones County Board Of Commissioners District 03"}