{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nPhilip \"Flip\" Edward Watson Jr. is an unaffiliated candidate for the Cherokee County Board of Education at-large seat. He and fellow unaffiliated candidate Tom Beasley face Republican primary winner Randy Phillips, a former county commissioner who won the March 3, 2026 primary with 59.92% of the vote, on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot [1].\n\n## Background\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Watson is a registered voter in Cherokee County, North Carolina, registered since 1976 (50 years), with party affiliation listed as Unaffiliated [2].\n\nThe voter file shows Watson's year of birth as 1953; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [2].\n\nThe voter history file shows 10 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Voters toss incumbents in Cherokee County elections \u2013 Cherokee Scout](https://www.cherokeescout.com/local-news/voters-toss-incumbent-cherokee-county-commissioners)\n[2] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n[3] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_at_large","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education At-Large"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Philip","fullname":"Philip Edward Watson JR","lastname":"Watson","middlename":"Edward","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_at_large","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education At-Large","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"UNA","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"cherokee","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_school_board_at_large","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education At-Large","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"UNA","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"UNA","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"suffix":"JR","summary":"Per the NC voter file: UNA voter in Cherokee County since 1976.","terms":[],"token":"13596ce7a5e1e09f"}