{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nWilliam Roger \"Rod\" Powell Jr. is the Democratic candidate for North Carolina State Senate District 44, covering Cleveland, Gaston, and Lincoln counties, in the November 3, 2026 general election [1]. He filed his candidacy with the North Carolina State Board of Elections on December 16, 2025 [1].\n\nNo additional published biographical information about Powell was located from public sources as of this writing.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 2026 Candidate Filing List](https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Elections/2026/Candidate%20Filing/Candidate_Listing_2026.csv) (bulk CSV; lists Powell as the Democratic filer for NC State Senate District 44), accessed 2026-07-20","campaigns":[{"contest":"state_senate_044","county":"burke","county_count":8,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Nc State Senate District 44"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"William","fullname":"William Roger Powell JR","lastname":"Powell","middlename":"Roger","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"state_senate_044","contest_title":"Nc State Senate District 44","county":"burke","county_count":8,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_senate","office_title":"State Senator","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"state_senate_044","contest_title":"Nc State Senate District 44","county":"burke","county_count":8,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_senate","office_title":"State Senator","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"DEM","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"state_senate","office_title":"State Senator","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"suffix":"JR","terms":[],"token":"6b212032a904626e"}