{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nMark Carlton Osterhout is a Republican candidate for North Carolina District Court Judge, District 8, Seat 3 (Unexpired), serving Edgecombe, Nash, and Wilson counties, on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot [2].\n\n## Office history\nOsterhout previously ran for a different seat on the same court -- District Court, District 8, Seat 7 -- as a Democrat in the 2024 cycle, facing Alicia Slaughter in the March 5, 2024 Democratic primary; Slaughter went on to be the Democratic nominee in that seat's November 2024 general election [1]. Ballotpedia's page for that 2024 race includes no further biographical detail, and Osterhout did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey [1]. His 2026 candidate filing lists him as a Republican, a change from the Democratic affiliation on his 2024 record; both are reported here without further explanation, as no source addresses the switch [1][2].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Mark Osterhout (North Carolina District Court District 8 Seat 7, North Carolina, candidate 2024) - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Mark_Osterhout_(North_Carolina_District_Court_District_8_Seat_7,_North_Carolina,_candidate_2024))\n- [2] North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Filing list (District Court Judge District 08 Seat 03, Unexpired), accessed 2026-07-20","campaigns":[{"contest":"district_court_judge_dist_008_seat_03","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Nc District Court Judge District 08 Seat 03 (Unexpired)"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Mark","fullname":"Mark Carlton Osterhout","lastname":"Osterhout","middlename":"Carlton","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"district_court_judge_dist_008_seat_03","contest_title":"Nc District Court Judge District 08 Seat 03 (Unexpired)","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"district_court_judge","office_title":"District Court Judge","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"district_court_judge_dist_008_seat_03","contest_title":"Nc District Court Judge District 08 Seat 03 (Unexpired)","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"district_court_judge","office_title":"District Court Judge","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"district_court_judge","office_title":"District Court Judge","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Mark Carlton Osterhout ran in the 2024 Democratic primary for North Carolina District Court District\u202f8 Seat\u202f7, with limited public biographical information.","terms":[],"token":"3f6e1c530c75adc2"}