{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nCourtney Dills ran as a Republican candidate for Swain County Board of Commissioners Chairman in the March 3, 2026 primary, one of four candidates on the Republican primary ballot alongside Robbie Brown, Bobby Jenkins, and Eugene Shuler [1].\n\n## Career\nAhead of the primary, Dills said she opposed what she called the \"good old boy system\" in county government. She called for cleaning up county departments, better use of county-owned land, and youth intervention programs funded through the state's opioid settlement money, criticized the culture at the county Department of Social Services, and said she wanted to reduce government reliance on outside interests; she was also skeptical of expanding excursion-train service through the county [1].\n\nDills has also raised public-records concerns as a private citizen at county commission meetings. In a June 2026 story on the county's responsiveness to records requests, the Smoky Mountain News reported that \"resident Courtney Dills alleged an exchange occurred\" during a May 5, 2026 commission meeting \"which was edited out\" of the board's official YouTube recording [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Candidates for Swain County Chairman share ideas, platforms \u2013 Smoky Mountain News](https://smokymountainnews.com/news/news-latest/candidates-for-swain-county-chairman-share-ideas-platforms/)\n[2] [Swain County unresponsive to SMN public records requests \u2013 Smoky Mountain News](https://smokymountainnews.com/news/news-latest/swain-county-unresponsive-to-smn-public-records-requests/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_chairman","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Swain County Board Of Commissioners Chairman"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Courtney","fullname":"Courtney Dills","lastname":"Dills","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_chairman","contest_title":"Swain County Board Of Commissioners Chairman","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"swain","office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"swain","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_commission_chairman","contest_title":"Swain County Board Of Commissioners Chairman","county":"swain","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"swain","office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"terms":[],"token":"4f53bfde958f26e9"}