{"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","campaigns":[{"contest":"superior_court_judge_dist_040_seat_02","county":"buncombe","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Nc Superior Court Judge District 40 Seat 02"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Alan","fullname":"Alan Ziegler Thornburg","lastname":"Thornburg","middlename":"Ziegler","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"superior_court_judge_dist_040_seat_02","contest_title":"Nc Superior Court Judge District 40 Seat 02","county":"buncombe","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"superior_court_judge","office_title":"Superior Court Judge","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"superior_court_judge_dist_040_seat_02","contest_title":"Nc Superior Court Judge District 40 Seat 02","county":"buncombe","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"superior_court_judge","office_title":"Superior Court Judge","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"DEM","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"superior_court_judge","office_title":"Superior Court Judge","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Alan Z. Thornburg, incumbent Superior Court judge for NC's 5th Division District\u202f28, is running for re\u2011election in 2026.","terms":[],"token":"1d2176369760afa5"}