{"biography":"Brad Evert Hessel is the Libertarian Party candidate for the North Carolina State Senate, District 18, on the November 3, 2026 general\u2011election ballot.  The state Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly; senators draft, debate, and vote on state laws, approve the state budget, and represent the interests of their district\u2019s constituents.  Hessel will seek to fill the seat currently held by Democrat Terence Everitt.\n\nHessel was born in New York, New York, and attended Sleepy Hollow High School before enrolling at Phillips Exeter Academy.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in 1975\u202f[1][11].  His professional background spans management consulting, simulation design and development, game and magazine publishing, technical writing and training, software pricing schema design, and corporate web\u2011architecture design\u202f[1].\n\nBeyond his private\u2011sector work, Hessel has been active in a range of civic and political organizations.  He has served on the Raleigh North Citizens Advisory Council, the Beth Meyer Social Action Committee, and the Wake County Libertarian Party\u202f[1].  Additional affiliations listed on his iVoterGuide profile include the Capital Area Soccer League (as a high\u2011school subdivision coordinator and coach) and the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, where he has held the role of Executive Director\u202f[11].\n\nHessel previously ran for the same Senate seat in 2024, receiving 3.2\u202f% of the vote (3,906 votes) in a three\u2011way race won by the Democratic incumbent\u202f[1].  He also sought the seat in 2016 and 2018, according to his iVoterGuide filing\u202f[11].  In the 2026 cycle, the Libertarian primary was cancelled, allowing Hessel to advance automatically to the general election\u202f[1].\n\nDuring the 2024\u20112025 campaign season, Hessel announced an endorsement from the North Carolina Forward Party\u202f[10] and spoke at the \u201cMore Voices More Choices\u201d rally, urging counties and municipalities to adopt instant\u2011runoff (ranked\u2011choice) voting for local elections\u202f[10].  His platform emphasizes expanding electoral choice, protecting civil liberties, and limiting the deployment of North Carolina National Guard troops overseas without a formal congressional declaration of war\u202f[11].\n\nFinancial disclosures filed with Transparency USA show Hessel\u2019s 2024 campaign raised $1,090 and spent $1,143, with expenditures including a canvassing service, web hosting, and payment\u2011processing fees\u202f[20].  While no campaign\u2011issued email address or phone number appears in the publicly available sources, his campaign website provides further information and contact options\u202f[10].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Brad Hessel - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Brad_Hessel)\n- [10] [Elect Brad Hessel | Reclaim Your State](https://electbradhessel.org)\n- [11] [iVoterGuide - Brad Hessel iVoterGuide Profile](https://ivoterguide.com/candidate/79702/race/11230/election/1206)\n- [20] [Brad Hessel - North Carolina Candidate - Transparency USA](https://www.transparencyusa.org/nc/candidate/brad-hessel)","campaigns":[{"contest":"state_senate_018","county":"durham","county_count":8,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Nc State Senate District 18"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Brad","fullname":"Brad Evert Hessel","lastname":"Hessel","middlename":"Evert","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"state_senate_018","contest_title":"Nc State Senate District 18","county":"durham","county_count":8,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_senate","office_title":"State Senator","party":"LIB","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"state_senate_018","contest_title":"Nc State Senate District 18","county":"durham","county_count":8,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_senate","office_title":"State Senator","party":"LIB","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"LIB","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"state_senate","office_title":"State Senator","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Brad Hessel is the Libertarian candidate for North Carolina State Senate District\u202f18 in the 2026 election, with a background in consulting, tech design, and civic activism.","terms":[],"token":"6d0ba09206150090"}