{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nMark Allen Letson served as the Republican chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners in western North Carolina. He ran for re-election as chairman in 2026 but lost the Republican primary to David Rogers, who received 39.8 percent of the vote compared to Letson's 31 percent [2].\n\n## Career\n\nLetson and his wife have co-owned Cashiers Valley Pharmacy in Cashiers, NC since 2006 [1]. He was elected to replace Democratic chairman Brian McMahan in December 2022, after beating Rick Wood in the Republican primary [1]. He has chaired the Jackson County Planning Board and serves on the Business and Industry Advisory Committee for Jackson County, and previously sat on the Cashiers Planning Council [1].\n\n## Sources\n\n- [1] [McMahan and Letson compete for commission chair \u2013 Smoky Mountain News](https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/34334-mcmahan-and-letson-compete-for-commission-chair)\n- [2] [Primary Election results shake up Western North Carolina \u2013 Smoky Mountain News](https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/41010-primary-election-results-shake-up-western-north-carolina)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_chairman","county":"jackson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Jackson County Board Of Commissioners Chairman"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Mark","fullname":"Mark Allen Letson","lastname":"Letson","middlename":"Allen","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_chairman","contest_title":"Jackson County Board Of Commissioners Chairman","county":"jackson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"jackson","office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"jackson","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_commission_chairman","contest_title":"Jackson County Board Of Commissioners Chairman","county":"jackson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"jackson","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":"618b425813d444b1"}