{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nJoshua Craig McPherson, described by The News Reporter as a former Columbus County sheriff's deputy, is a Republican candidate for Columbus County Sheriff in the 2026 election, challenging incumbent Sheriff Bill Rogers. McPherson, whose address is in the Antioch community, announced his campaign on Facebook in January 2025 [1].\n\n## Background\n\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, McPherson is a registered Republican voter in Columbus County, registered since 2007 (19 years), with a birth year of 1989 [2].\n\n## Sources\n\n[1] [McPherson to challenge Rogers in 2026 sheriff\u2019s race \u2013 NR Columbus](https://www.nrcolumbus.com/article_4583121e-d2bb-11ef-8beb-e75704a8ae64.html) \u2014 published 2025-01-14, accessed 2026-07-19\n\n[2] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"columbus","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Columbus County Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Joshua","fullname":"Joshua Craig Mcpherson","lastname":"Mcpherson","middlename":"Craig","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Columbus County Sheriff","county":"columbus","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"columbus","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"columbus","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Columbus County Sheriff","county":"columbus","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"columbus","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: REP voter in Columbus County since 2007.","terms":[],"token":"1439c61e9cbbeb52"}