{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nSteven Mark \"Mark\" Pless is the outgoing Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 118, covering Haywood and Madison counties, a seat he has held since 2021 [1]. Pless lost the March 3, 2026 Republican primary to Jimmy Rogers and will not appear on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot; his current term runs through January 1, 2027 [1].\n\n## Career\nPless's career experience includes working as a paramedic and as an insurance agent with the N.C. Farm Bureau [1].\n\n## Office history\nPless was first elected to House District 118 in November 2020 and won re-election in 2022 and 2024 [1].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nDuring the 2023\u20132024 session, Pless served on the Appropriations Committee, the House Appropriations on Health and Human Services Committee, the Wildlife Resources Committee, and the Disaster Recovery and Homeland Security Committee, and as vice chair of the Federal Relations and American Indian Affairs Committee [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Mark Pless - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Mark_Pless) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21\n\n[2] [North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Filing List](https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Elections/2026/Candidate%20Filing/Candidate_Listing_2026.csv) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21","campaigns":[{"contest":"state_house_118","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Nc House Of Representatives District 118"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Steven","fullname":"Steven Mark Pless","lastname":"Pless","middlename":"Mark","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"state_house_118","contest_title":"Nc House Of Representatives District 118","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_house","office_title":"State Representative","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"state_house_118","contest_title":"Nc House Of Representatives District 118","county":null,"county_count":0,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_house","office_title":"State Representative","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"state_house","office_title":"State Representative","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: REP voter in Haywood County since 1992.","terms":[],"token":"625d15c0fee09fc8"}