{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Tony Burnette","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"UNA","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nTony Anthony Burnette is a candidate for Northampton County Sheriff. He has previously run for the same office in 2002 and 2022.\n\n## Background and education\nBurnette graduated from Southeast Halifax High School in 1983. He earned his Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) certification from Halifax Community College.\n\n## Career\nFrom 1987 to 1994 Burnette served in the United States Navy as an Aviation Ordinanceman and is a Gulf War veteran. After military service he pursued a law enforcement career spanning 25 years in both Virginia and Northampton County, NC. He rose to Chief of Police in the towns of Seaboard and Rich Square and served as commander of the Northampton County Sheriff's Office narcotics task force. From 2003 to 2011 he managed a Lowe's distribution center and from 2008 to 2011 owned and operated Burnette's Restaurant.\n\nIn 2015 Burnette was elected president of the Northampton County branch of the NAACP and later became director of the Eleventh District of the NAACP. Through that role he led efforts to pave dirt roads throughout the county, created a scholarship fund for college-bound students, launched Operation Restore Hope to help people with criminal records find employment, organized voter mobilization events, and worked to raise awareness about missing and murdered residents.\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Burnette, Tony \u2013 NCpedia](https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/burnette-tony)\n- [2] [Northampton County: Candidates for sheriff answer questions \u2013 Roanoke-Chowan Daily Herald](https://www.rrdailyherald.com/news/local/northampton-county-candidates-for-sheriff-answer-questions/article_d2f2bb6f-cc10-50c4-b03c-df40baa228bd.html)\n","firstname":"Tony","lastname":"Burnette","middlename":"Anthony","suffix":null,"token":"f82057f24f9cc5dc"},"token":"r8UgpXPD0gYolX9X"},{"candidatename":"Jack E. Smith","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"According to the North Carolina voter file, Jack Earl Smith is a registered voter in Northampton County, North Carolina, registered since 2011 (15 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Jack Earl Smith's year of birth as 1952; 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 Jack Earl Smith 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":"Jack","lastname":"Smith","middlename":"Earl","suffix":null,"token":"499de324f2852fa6"},"token":"GtS3ez93jJiddngH"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"sheriff","o.office":"county_sheriff","office":"county_sheriff","officedescription":"The sheriff is the county's chief law-enforcement officer. The office operates the county jail, provides court security, serves civil process and executes warrants, and provides patrol and investigation \u2014 a large operational command with a substantial budget.","officequalities":"- Organizational leadership of a sheriff's office spanning patrol, investigations, court services, and the county jail.\n- Oversight of the county jail, including intake, inmate health, and release procedures.\n- Working knowledge of Tennessee criminal law, court process, and constitutional search-and-seizure standards.\n- Ability to develop and oversee the office's operating budget with public accountability.\n- Coordination with municipal police departments and neighboring-county and state agencies.\n- A documented law-enforcement or public-safety background.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"Sheriff","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Northampton County Sheriff"}