{"biography":"**Update: Southards won the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary for Swain County Sheriff, defeating Troy \"Tank\" Anthony 661 votes to 265, and advances to face Brian E. Kirkland (R) on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot [3].**\n\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, David Thomas Southards is a registered voter in Swain County, North Carolina, registered since 1988 (38 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [1].\n\nThe voter file shows David Thomas Southards's year of birth as 1970; 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 7 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 David Thomas Southards 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/)\n\n[3] North Carolina State Board of Elections, official 2026 candidate filing list (`Candidate_Listing_2026.csv`) and March 3, 2026 primary precinct-level results (`results_pct_20260303`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Swain County Sheriff"},{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Swain County Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"David","fullname":"David Thomas Southards","lastname":"Southards","middlename":"Thomas","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Swain County Sheriff","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"swain","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Swain County Sheriff","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"swain","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"swain","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Swain County Sheriff","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"swain","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"DEM","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: DEM voter in Swain County since 1988.","terms":[],"token":"285d920da2f63015"}