{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\n**Stephen Sauls Howell lost the March 3, 2026 Republican primary for Wayne County Sheriff, placing third of three candidates with 686 votes; Larry M. Pierce won the nomination with 4,695 votes.** [3]\n\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Stephen Sauls Howell is a registered voter in Wayne County, North Carolina, registered since 1992 (34 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Stephen Sauls Howell's year of birth as 1973; 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 5 elections voted in since 2020, 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 Stephen Sauls Howell 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, 2026 primary precinct-level election results (`results_pct_20260303.txt`, from [https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/ENRS/2026_03_03/results_pct_20260303.zip](https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/ENRS/2026_03_03/results_pct_20260303.zip)) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-24","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"wayne","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Wayne County Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Stephen","fullname":"Stephen Sauls Howell","lastname":"Howell","middlename":"Sauls","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Wayne County Sheriff","county":"wayne","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"wayne","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"wayne","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Wayne County Sheriff","county":"wayne","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"wayne","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 Wayne County since 1992.","terms":[],"token":"28a3facf5b22fbe7"}